Why study at the GEM ? > Innovative pedagogy
A solid training in mathematics during the undergraduate studies. Approx. 1000 hours + 250 hours of IT and mechanical engineering. Constant application of acquired knowledge to real-life situations.
Teaching in small groups (between 20% and 70% of the total program depending on the subject) favors student/professor interaction.
Beyond the mere transmission of knowledge, the GEM lays great emphasis on developing other essential qualities of an engineer: ability to work in teams and in a network, initiative, creativity and a sense of innovation, mastery of complex situations, ability to integrate in a project knowledge of different kinds as well as fields, within corporate and international contexts.
In order to reach these objectives, the GEM uses real-life situation teaching tools :
During their studies, students learn to work in teams through a number of team projects in which they draw on the knowledge acquired in the classroom. The projects are characterized by an alternation between traditional learning and real-life situations. Projects are relatively short (50-100 working hours spread over a few weeks).They are particularly effective for developing skills that are difficult to develop in a traditional teaching environment (entrepreneurship, sustainable development, science of risks...).
This exercise, which is typical of "action pedagogy", consists in confronting a team of three students with a strategic problem whose economic dimension is important to a company. The specificity of the mission lies in the direct contact of the team with the project manager in the company and on the intensive workload within a very short time frame (only 5 weeks). The project is presented to a jury of industrialists.
The entrepreneurial approach can lead to a personal company creation project. It allows the student to develop and to materialize an innovative idea all the way up to the creation of a company. Although this is a personal project, the school makes available to the student specific pedagogical means: an adapted and contracted syllabus + access to its company incubator.
Students carry out at least 2 internships in companies during their studies in the GEM. Each internship is the object of a precise specifications established between the student, the company and the school. Joint supervision is given by the school and the company. Students have to submit a report and give an oral presentation of their project to a jury.
The internship hence constitutes an essential element of the training of the future engineer.
A 6-month end-of-study project takes place in the final year of the Graduate School and completes the training of the GEM engineer. The project usually takes place in a company under the joint supervision of a GEM professor and a tutor from the company. It is assessed through a memoir and an oral presentation to a jury.
The Graduate project enables the students to put into practice the technological as well as methodological knowledge and skills they have acquired during their studies at the GEM and to develop their autonomy, creativity and professional qualities in the real-life environment of a company.
GEM graduates are often recruited by the company in which they do their final project.
Students wishing to continue with doctoral studies usually carry out their project within a department lab.