Minatec

The fourth Junior Scientist & Industry Annual Meeting (JSIAM) will be held at MINATEC on March 30, 2012. The event, organized by GIANT campus students, will give PhD students an opportunity to meet with industry professionals. Some 50 volunteers from businesses like Crocus Technology, bioMérieux, and Soitec participated in the 2011 JSIAM.
The morning session will feature presentations about the role of PhDs in today’s businesses. Next, the Midi MINATEC brown bag lunch talk will showcase the video CVs of participating PhD students. Then, over sandwiches, participating professionals will get a chance to meet our PhD students and discover their poster CVs, which will be on display. The afternoon session will be devoted to panel discussions.

To learn more, visit www.goo.gl/TD1wV  and http://www.minatec.org/jsiam2012.
Contact: francine.papillon@minatec.org
 

Following a successful trial run last year, Grenoble Institute of Technology is renewing its partnership with local high school Lycée Mounier to once again offer students introductory nanoscience courses. The program, sponsored by Nobel Laureate Albert Fert, is made possible thanks to a group effort by all the high school’s senior science teachers as well as faculty from Grenoble Institute of Technology-Phelma and CNRS.
The program aims to introduce students to the nanosciences and help them develop critical thinking skills. They will attend classes taught by visiting experts at the high school, participate in lab sessions at CIME Nanotech (as part of the Nano@school program), and prepare for a debate on nanotechnology and its influence on man. The debate, which will take place in the spring, will be attended by other members of the high school’s faculty and senior class.
Contact: fanny.poinsotte@phelma.grenoble-inp.fr 
 

STMicroelectronics, Soitec, and Grenoble Institute of Technology introduced a European version of the US educational program SEMI High Tech U back in 2007. This year, the program will expand to include three sessions (instead of two), six partner high schools (instead of four), and slots for 108 students.
SEMI High Tech U will continue to offer students an insider’s look at potential future careers, with a full day at MINATEC (including tours of Grenoble Institute of Technology-Phelma, LMGP, IMEP-LHAC, and CIME Nanotech). Participating students—high-school sophomores—will learn about the semiconductor and microelectronics industries, and perhaps even discover a passion for science!
MINATEC, Leti, and Applied Materials France have joined the program this year and will help lead the various workshops offered to participating students.

Contact: colette.lartigue@grenoble-inp.fr
 

A nature conservancy in France’s Languedoc-Roussillon region asked Leti to develop a tracker to improve monitoring of the Bonelli’s Eagle, an endangered species. The tracking chip was successfully tested on a vulture, and the miniaturized functional prototype weighs in at less than 50 grams. The tracker has its own power supply and sensors (a magnetometer and an accelerometer) to pick up information on the bird’s activity and feeding patterns, as well as a GPS tracker and radio communication capabilities for the transfer of data to a ground station near the eagle’s nest.
This summer an eagle will be outfitted with a more robust version of the tracker, which is designed to last at least a year. The tracker will help scientists better understand the bird’s habitat and behavior. This new system could eventually be used for other species.

Contact: norbert.daniele@cea.fr
 

 

Grenoble Institute of Technology-Phelma and IMEP-LAHC are gearing up to host Professor Yiming Li, Deputy Director of Taiwan’s National Nano Device Laboratories (NDL), the country’s equivalent of MINATEC. Professor Li will stay for three months and work on the Nanotech Master’s program at Grenoble Institute of Technology. He will also team up with local researchers on piezoelectric nanowire modeling for applications such as sensors and energy harvesting systems.
Beyond the scientific benefits of having Professor Li come to MINATEC, his visit also marks a step forward in the partnership between Taiwan’s NDL and our own FMNT—the two organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2004.

Contact: laurent.montes@minatec.grenoble-inp.fr
 

The 2011 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition focused on synthetic biology, an area in which Grenoble’s team (students from UJF and Grenoble Institute of Technology) excelled, reaching the finals. The 2012 iGEM team has already been selected: nine students, a team of advisors (including two members of the 2011 team), and six professors are gearing up for this year’s competition. The team’s first challenge will be to select their project and secure funding. They will then begin the modeling and experimentation phase.
As the 2012 competition gets underway, iGEM-Grenoble (a non-profit group) has formed a synthetic biology club that will meet twice a month—and that is open to anyone interested in the topic!
Contact: marianne.weidenhaupt@phelma.grenoble-inp.fr

Grenoble Institute of Technology and Grenoble Ecole de Management have restructured the MIDEP (Project Management and Engineering) program, which is designed to help technicians already possessing two to three years of college education earn the academic credentials they need to access management-level positions. The two schools decided to combine the MIDEP and Formatech continuing education programs to create a “new” MIDEP program that gives graduates a certificate recognized by the French government.
The overhauled program aims to develop students’ staff management and project management skills in high-tech business environments. In addition to a core curriculum, students can choose industry-specific courses (in project and technical management) as well as elective courses in science and technology.
Classes in this 20-month program are held one week per month. The next intake is in March, and there are a few slots left!

Contact: murielle.brachotte@grenoble-inp.fr
 

For the first time ever, Grenoble Institute of Technology will co-organize the 27th Forum Rhône-Alpes to be held in on March 7–8, 2012. The event will attract more than 180 companies with engineering positions to fill, and will give Grenoble Institute of Technology engineering students from all majors a chance to meet with recruiters and identify job and internship opportunities.
Grenoble Institute of Technology students will be given a day off on March 8 and buses will be arranged to take them to and from Lyon for the event.

For further information, visit www.forum-rhone-alpes.com
Contact: catherine.chapeau@grenoble-inp.fr
 
 
 

Grenoble Institute of Technology will grant four honorary doctorate degrees at a ceremony to be held at the Pulp and Paper Research Center (CTP) in St. Martin d’Hères just outside Grenoble. The school has chosen four internationally-renowned scientists to be honored with this highly-selective distinction.
Michael F. Ashby of the University of Cambridge; Georges Bastin of the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium; Patrick Selvadurai of McGill University; and H.-S. Philip Wong of Stanford University will receive the degrees. Professor Wong—a graphene, NEMS, nanowire, and memory expert—has held a Nanosciences Foundation Chair of Excellence since 2007 and lectured at the MIGAS® summer school in 2008. He works regularly with Grenoble-based researchers at Leti, IMEP-LAHC, and STMicroelectronics.
Contact: laurent.montes@minatec.grenoble-inp.fr
 

On November 28, 2011, juniors from Saint Ambroise High School in Chambéry had the unique privilege of attending the school year’s first Nano@school session at MINATEC. Eleven more sessions are scheduled between now and May 2012 at four of the CIME Nanotech technology platforms. Nano@school gives high-school students from Isère, Savoie, Haute-Savoie, and the Drôme the chance to discover the exciting field of nanotechnology through a series of workshops on cutting-edge topics like nanoparticles, integrated circuit design, and solar cells.
 
The workshops are given by physics and chemistry teachers who received special training at MINATEC in early November. Back at their home schools, the students will have to complete a “nano” project. More volunteers are still needed to help facilitate Nano@school events—sign up now and meet the next generation of nanoscientists!

Contact: julie.spinelli@cea.fr