Minatec

Grenoble Institute of Technology-Phelma has been a partner of Grenoble’s Printemps du Livre book festival for the past four years. On the evening of April 2, the school will invite Irish novelist Robert McLiam Wilson to come and discuss his novel Eureka Street. English instructor Michèle Ingman came up with the idea, and Phelma students volunteered to handle the logistics of the event. The talk will be followed by a Q&A session with the author facilitated by six student volunteers (in English, of course!).
Beyond providing an opportunity to speak English, the event also aims to raise engineering students’ awareness of the world outside the lab while showing the general public that MINATEC is about more than just science—it is also a place where the arts are alive and well.

Contact: ingman@minatec.inpg.fr
 

Maison MINATEC will host artist Valérie Legembre’s EXEO2 (Experience, Exchange, and Observation) exhibit from March 19–April 19, 2012. The works in the exhibit were inspired by Legembre’s year-long residency, an initiative supported by the Atelier Arts-Sciences that enabled the artist to spend time in various CEA labs.
During her residency, Legembre, a visual artist and photographer, worked shoulder to shoulder with researchers at INAC, Leti-DTBS, ARC-Nucléart, and the National Institute for Solar Energy in Chambéry. She viewed the world of scientific research through various lenses, with themes ranging from people at work to hands in motion. The exhibit is much more than a record of Legembre’s residency, however. Her unexpected images are the fruit of experimentation with new techniques and a uniquely creative artistic vision. A catalogue of the exhibit will also be published.

Contact: jerome.planes@cea.fr
 

The Observatory for Micro and NanoTechnologies (OMNT) will hold its 10th annual seminar in Paris on February 8, 2012. This seminar will reach out to a broad audience including researchers, students, journalists, and government representatives and inform them of the latest developments in the field of micro and nanotechnology. The seminar will also provide an opportunity for discussion and debate among industry experts and stakeholders.
OMNT’s network of 330 experts, who keep a close eye on new developments in micro and nanotechnology, selected nine talks (in French) on topics like molecular spin electronics, photovoltaic energy, biology, nanodrugs, and nanoparticle safety with the “safe by design” concept.

View the complete program and register at http://www.omnt.fr  
Contact: stephane.fontanell@cea.fr

What good is it to have 40-LED stage lights that only let you program five colors? That’s exactly the problem that Pascal and Aurélie Baltazar (who won the 2010 Atelier Art-Sciences Arts Award) set out to solve. They wanted to put together a performance where light would play a starring role. Leti helped them out, asking a team of researchers to analyze each LED’s spectrum and flow in order to calculate the dosages required to paint the entire stage with colored light. The researchers even developed special software that lets users control colors with a simple stylus.
The application, used to control stage lighting in real time, can be integrated into stage management software. It can also be used to correct white light, making it warmer or cooler. The system was tested at a performance at the Hexagone theater in Meylan, just outside of Grenoble. The performers gave it a standing ovation!

Contact: philippe.grosse@cea.fr
 

Over 200 enterprising scientists and engineers participated in GIANT’s second-annual Entrepreneurship Day on November 22, 2011 to get insider tips on starting up a high-tech business. They attended presentations by successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and business incubators like GRAIN, GRAVIT, OSEO, and CEA Essaimage. The afternoon program featured three workshops on the key stages of the start-up process: outlining a business plan; researching the target market; and obtaining financing. However, the highlight of the day was undoubtedly the networking lunch, where the founders and CEOs of 25 GIANT-born start-ups chatted directly with aspiring entrepreneurs over a relaxed stand-up buffet meal. One more insider tip: don’t talk with your mouth full!

Contact: alain.briand@cea.fr
 

Five videos have recently been added to MINATEC’s web TV (www.minatec.tv): two about the MINATEC IDEAs Laboratory (one describing the lab and one commemorating its 10th anniversary); one about MINATEC Entreprises; and two about events at MINATEC (one for INAC’s 40th anniversary and one about the Global School for Advanced Studies session on graphene held in Grenoble in June 2011).

Since the web TV was launched in February 2011, it has been updated regularly with new videos grouped into channels, each addressing a different topic. Some of its 62 videos are available in English as well as French.

Contact: celestine.janniaux@minatec.org
 

Developed by a PhD candidate conducting research at the CTP center for paper process engineering, working in association with LCIS and IMEP-LAHC, the first-ever wallpaper capable of blocking GSM and Wi-Fi signals won a silver award for innovation from ATIP (France’s paper engineering industry association) in September of this year. This award, established to promote new paper processes and products and accelerate their transfer to the market, will give researchers a boost as they develop other applications for similar products designed for flooring, window glazing, and wallboard.

The project team is currently in talks with a French company to establish a commercial partnership for the wallpaper, and is seeking business partners for the other new applications as well.

Contact: fabien.debarros@webCTP.com
 

CEA labs IRSTV, Liten, and INAC and CNRS labs LEPMI and LMGP recently joined forces with INES (the French national institute for solar energy) for a travelling exhibit on how chemistry contributes to finding sustainable alternative energy sources. Designed for families, and children in particular, the exhibit features posters, experiments, demonstrations, and short videos explaining chemistry’s role in energy, from hydrogen-based processes, lithium-ion batteries, photovoltaics and biomass to the nuclear industry.

The exhibit kicked off in May in Bourgoin-Jallieu, and then went on to Lycée Champollion in Grenoble with planned stops at the temporary exhibit hall of the Ancien musée de peinture in Grenoble and the city of Eybens. Additional exhibit locations are also planned for 2012.

Contact: alain.farchi@cea.fr
 

MINATEC’s partnership with Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City continues to expand, now encompassing technology transfer. The university is setting up a dedicated technology transfer unit, and the CEA’s market research bureau recently presented two studies on LEDs and medical systems.
 
In the past, MINATEC provided support for the creation of a Vietnamese nanotechnology lab, assigning a Leti engineer to the project for two years. MINATEC also helped launch the International Workshop on Nanotechnology and Applications (IWNA), which attracts around 250 participants from around fifteen countries. The next edition of IWNA, to be held on November 10–12, will address nanofabrication techniques and nanomedicine.

Contact: jcguibert@cea.fr

On October 7, MINATEC will host a symposium sponsored by Ateliers Arts-Science and Grenoble University (Université Pierre Mendès France) as part of the sixth Biennale Arts-Sciences des Rencontres-i festival. Imagination and innovation will come together as lecturers explore the relationships between the arts and sciences and their impact on local development.

For the first time ever, the festival will also include a special exhibit for visitors to test systems co-invented by artists and scientists working together at MINATEC. Entitled Expérimenta, the exhibit will be open at Maison MINATEC from October 5–8. The systems will be exhibited by type of technology (light and energy, information technology, and digital technology) and will include virtual sculpture software, illuminated apparel made from smart textiles, and the battery backpack.
 
View the full program and register to attend at www.rencontres-i.eu
Contact: atelier.as@theatre-hexagone.eu