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Masters internationaux EPITA
EPITA International Office in Hong Kong
We are glad to announce that Christophe Rouvrais, the head of the international office at EPITA with his team, are participating in the 8th APAIE Conference & Exhibition that will be hosted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong in HK between the 11th and 14th of March 2013. This exhibition will offer extensive opportunities for the international educators like EPITA to exchange ideas and learn about new initiatives in the field.
Aligned with our vision, to achieve international distinction for originality, innovation and excellence, participating in this event will be the starting point of our international efforts in 2013 to diversify and enrich our international programs by welcoming more multinational students on campus in the next couple of years.
During this week, students who are interested in obtaining International Master's degree in Information Systems Management, Software Engineering, or Computer Security, please meet our team at this exhibition and consult the program. In addition, you will have the chance to get more information on EPITA's Summer School in its second edition that will start this June and will last for 6 weeks. For more information on our international programs, please visit International Master's and Summer School on our website.
Green IT: software goes green
This year, the Green IT conference organized by EPITA concerned software ecodesign. While computer hardware is becoming more and more efficient in terms of performance and more and more ecological, software paradoxically requires ever more resources, which results in an ever-increasing ecological footprint. What are the issues involved in developing lighter software? How to achieve it? Those are the problems that were covered during the conference held at EPITA on October 25, 2012.
Current situation
Frédéric Bordage, the Green IT expert who led the debates, was the first speaker. He presented an initial assessment of the issues of ecosoftware development. He emphasized the paradox between Koomey's law, which states that the quantity of energy required for machines to run is halved every two years, and Wirth's law, which establishes that the speed of software decreases more rapidly than the speed of hardware increases. But this process is not inevitable: software can be developed intelligently, with the aim to find a balance between the level of performance to achieve and the resources required for the software to run properly. IBM, Microsoft, Facebook... are examples of companies that have made significant savings by establishing ecodesign systems.
What life cycle for ecodesigned software?
In order to be efficient, ecodesign has to apply to all phases of the software life cycle. Erwan Bouvier, co-founder and technical manager of Blueight, went back over the different stages, from design to end of life. The first phase, functional and technical design, is also the most important. At this stage, engineers need to define as well as possible the functionality to be included in the applications to be developed and the technical choices to make. They then need to make maximum reuse of existing resources (in order to avoid redundancy), to optimize the use of new resources and to define sustainable solutions. During the development phase, developers will reduce their resource requirements and will establish methodologies to perpetuate their work. During the operation phase, users will need to respect the software's logic by using all of its abilities (to date, about 45% of the capabilities of software applications are not used). In parallel, developers in charge of updating the software will continue to apply the principles adopted during the development phase. And at the end-of-life stage, care must be taken to make the close-down of the application definitive (for example by deleting servers to gain space) and to reuse hardware and technical infrastructures.
The Green Code Project
Thierry Leboucq, founder of KaliTerre, joining forces with the Green Code Lab, formed the Green Code Project, which aims to list and validate good practices for ecodesign. The application "Green Pattern" was developed for that purpose: it takes into account a dozen (out of around 200) rules to measure, it checks the quality of the code of any given piece of software and assigns a grade to it. According to the result, the application may then be modified in order to make it faster and more ecological.
What new management?
Pierre Carrio and Yann Azoury, of BeVeod, looked into the matter of people and skills. The increase in skill requirements related to the large number of computer languages has resulted in an increase of the number of dedicated servers. This escalation of needs has led to a slowdown and a certain rigidity of the development chain. Thanks to FaVeod, BeVeod's application creation tool, writing and maintaining code can be automated, and hardware requirements are therefore much lighter, with a much lesser impact on the ecological footprint of companies. Developers thus have more time to create new algorithms, and therefore added value.
What market for ecodesign?
The day ended with a round-table talk on the market for ecodesign. Since it is an emerging practice, all participants recognized that there are not many clients for the moment, all the more as clients do not necessarily like to lose control of the development process. Companies are however beginning to show some interest as they realize that ecodesign can be a factor of differentiation on the market. In addition, while there are not yet any strong rules and regulations to promote software ecodesign, texts are being written to encourage companies to adopt it.
Finally, each speaker insisted on an essential point concerning ecodesign: the need to give serious thought to the requirements specification before embarking on actual development; the need for assessment before taking action and to put oneself in the position of users (for example by using hardware considered to be obsolete); the need to fight against planned obsolescence and to put engineering back at the heart of development. And all participants concluded that software ecodesign is a way to the future.
Green IT is the annual event at EPITA which combines sustainable development and IT. After looking in turn into green computer hardware, software to support sustainable development, and the required behaviour for an ecoresponsible use of ICT, the seminar focused this year on software. Run by Frédéric Bordage, an expert in Green IT, the conferences bring together specialists in this field who share their knowledge with the students.
Joël Courtois, an outstanding personality in the digital field in France
Joël Courtois, General Manager of EPITA, is among the 100 people who contribute to the advancement of the digital field in France, according to the weekly magazine 01 Business & Technologies, in the "Institutional and Political" category.
In response to the Louis Gallois report, which evades the issue of the digital field in France (although this sector creates jobs and shows growth and innovation), 01 Business & Technologies has established a list of the 100 French personalities who make the country move forward in this area. Joël Courtois, General Manager of EPITA, features alongside Rafi Haladjian (pictured on the cover - an entrepreneur in a variety of businesses, co-founder of Violet, the company that created the Nabaztag, and contributor to TIC 2025, a book about ICT in 2025 published by EPITA), Fleur Pellerin (minister in charge of small and medium-sized enterprises, innovation and the digital economy) and Loïc Le Meur (organizer of LeWeb). Pedagogical innovation and matching the syllabus to business needs are the strengths of the EPITA graduate school, which "does not produce machines just capable of learning and repeating, but creative and innovative young engineers".
Firefox OS App Days at EPITA
Next January 25th and 26th, EPITA will host the French edition of the Firefox OS App Days, two days dedicated to the development of applications for Mozilla's new operating system.
Mozilla - known above all for its work on the Firefox web browser - is currently implementing an HTML5-compatible open-source operating system for mobile devices: Firefox OS. This new OS, which is still under development, will enable developers to easily create applications based on pre-existing Mozilla APIs.
The launch of the operating system being scheduled some time in 2013, the various Mozilla communities around the world are invited to develop applications specific to the OS and intended to feed the Firefox MarketPlace during the Firefox OS App Days, which will also be held on January 25th and 26th at other locations all over the world. EPITA is hosting the French edition of the event.
After a presentation of Firefox OS on Friday evening, all day Saturday will be dedicated to workshops and above all to a hackathon, during which participants will create all kinds of applications in HTML5. If you can develop in HTML5, Javascript or CSS and are interested in this project, register here. The only requirement will be to bring your computer and an Android smartphone.
The Firefox OS App Days will take place in EPITA's facilities at Kremlin-Bicêtre (Val-de-Marne, on the outskirts of Paris). They will start on January 25th at 6pm and will end on the 26th at 10pm.
Research & Innovation Projects
Definition
The Research & Innovation Projects of EPITA's International Master's program consists of developing an innovative project by a group of second year masters students, over a period of two months, in collaboration with a company or a research laboratory. Each team consists of 3 to 4 and is supervised by the representative of the company or research laboratory mentoring the project. The project is developed over a period of two full-time months equating to 240 hours per student.
Aim
The model of the Research & Innovation project is a win-win agreement between the students and the companies. The students will be exposed to the corporate environment and will have a chance to work on real projects and establish a "proof of concept". The companies will be granted an opportunity to research ideas that normally they do not have the resources to achieve and to acquire an international point of view on their ideas and the technology they are using.
Implementation
The projects ideas are suggested by the company or the research laboratory wishing to assess the possibility of introducing a new product or a new system. Once the ideas are accepted by the EPITA, the school provides students with the essential resources to develop the project. The project undergoes the following milestones: selection of the topic, specification writing, client acceptance on the specifications, list the needed resources (hardware, software...) and schedule, design, development, and validation of the prototype, and finally the deliverables presentation.
Examples
Below is a snaphot of the R&IP that are executed so far:
- Green IT Simulator
- E-CRM a Solution That Can Think
- Auto-Adaptive System Control Platform
- EPITA International Master Students Digital Guide
- SFR Cloud Computing Qualification Tool
Please click on the below link to watch a short brief on Research & Innovation Projects
FEMII: offer you the choice
The 15th edition of the Forum for Companies in the Engineering & IT Sector has been held on the Technological Campus of the IONIS Group October 10 and 11, from 1.30 pm to 6 pm.
As every year, the companies from the engineering and IT sector met on the technological Campus from IONIS Group for the FEMII organized by EPITA. These influential actors from the sector presented their projects to recruit students and future engineers.
As in previous editions, the companies presented employment opportunities they offer on different stands put up for that occasion.
52 companies and community stakeholders will report on business opportunities, including Capgemini, Thales, Bouygues Telecom, Hewlett-Packard or AXA. SSII, consulting firms, major software companies, banking and insurance will be represented, as many different opportunities for students.
The Technological Campus brings together over 6,000 students on the sites of Kremlin-Bicetre, Ivry-sur-Seine and Villejuif. The 250 students from EPITA in last year of engineering and International Masters are directly concerned by this forum.
Wikispeed: the collaborative car that consumes 2.5 L per 100 kms
Friday, October 5th, at the invitation of the IONIS Group, students from EPITA, ESME Sudria and IPSA, were able to attend a lecture by Joe Justice, CEO of Wikispeed. In front of a packed house (over 200 attentive people in the audience) the founder of Wikispeed spoke. The keynote of Wikispeed is to develop an open source, secure and reliable car, able to travel 100 miles with only a gallon of gasoline (or 2.35 L per 100 km), and cheap ($ 25,000, with an ultimate goal of $ 17,000 per vehicle). Today Wikispeed gathers together nearly 150 members in 18 countries and focuses just on the automotive industry. Through its innovative work methods (Agile, Lean, Scrum ...) and responsiveness Wikispeed has interested many industries. These are the methods that the American entrepreneur presented.
Joe Justice speaking to the Engineering students from IONIS Group
Genesis Project
Given the fact that industrial development times were extremely long (a new car model on sale today has sometimes been conceived there over 20 years) in a world where innovation is going at full speed, Joe Justice first stook it into his head to establish a renewal cycle of seven days. Thus, he was able to quickly see the qualities and defects of its construction and adapt quickly to the needs of the moment.
In order to apply this reactivity to a car, he started on a car model composed by eight interchangeable structures and little or no dependent from each other (chassis, engine, body ...). Thus, the owner of a Wikispeed car must, if want to, change the engine of his car - to go from an engine fueled with bio-ethanol to an electric motor, for example - using as much time as it takes to change a wheel.
Methods applied to the computer industry
To make this possible, Joe Justice was first inspired by Agile, Lean and Scrum methods. These practices mainly prevalent in software design (Joe Justice is primarily a computer engineer), are based on simple principles as a better distribution of labor, advanced planning to avoid hidden delays (Kanban), sharing knowledge through work in pairs (one teaching techniques, other learners), the ability to see very quickly (within seven days) the impact of his work ... Moreover, thanks to a battery of simulations and tests before, during and after construction, the team Wikispeed ensures the safety of its vehicles. Another efficiency factor: the good mood. Maintain a pleasant and cordial social relations at work increases productivity and innovation; common sense brought back into fashion.
From the shoebox to the race car
Wikispeed is the first car out of the private garage of Joe Justice in 2010. After three months from conception through the first mile, it became the gasoline vehicle the most efficient in the world, making the bet to travel 100 miles on one gallon of gasoline. A year later, the design of the body has been studied in more detail. Through
international collaborations, a shaped curve car was born. The vehicle is not only more efficient and less polluting, it is also more beautiful. This allowed him to be presented in August at the biggest automotive exhibition of the world, the Detroit Auto Show in Detroit, USA. The car on display at the convention was assembled in three hours by a group of 23 people, 19 of whom had never heard of the project before.
Evolution of Wikispeed car design
The open source car
Most plans of the car and all the components are freely available on the Internet. Also, any individual interested in the project may propose additions, or make his own Wikispeed car . Currently, the project staff is working on a Wikispeed truck or van.
Exchanges are made through social networks and through collaborative tools like Skype, Dropbox, Skydrive ... These tools did not exist ten years ago. From a managerial point of view, these developments are of paramount importance: while the technical power has grown exponentially in the last 20 years, industrial profits have only decreased. The audit firm Deloitte explains this paradox by a difference of industrial culture.
Where a company will buy very expensive equipment to make mass-produced cars , the team Wikispeed will provide a tool with similar efficiency, but at a cost 50,000 times less. In addition, the use of equipment that has been used or given is at the heart of the model Wikispeed.
This new industrial culture has called to mind larger and older structures than Wikispeed. Among them, we can count John Deere (farm vehicles), Boeing (aircraft) or Tait (radios). During visits in these companies and workshops with teams, Joe Justice was able to present the Wikispeed methods. Because if you can not change suddenly decades of corporate culture, the weekly questioning can lead to significant improvements.
Application of Agile, Lean and Scrum at the Detroit Auto Show (USA)
Wikispeed, a project in constant evolution
With these devices, Wikispeed think it can put an end to planned obsolescence, through the instant update. Quickly, the media have been interested in the project. This interest has allowed Wikispeed to raise funds through the Internet. Today Wikispeed is also working on construction projects of clinics or low-cost ways to efficiently transport vaccines against polio. Always putting into practice the Agile, Lean and Scrum methods.
After this presentation, Joe Justice invited the students to join his project, provided an involvement ranging from two to four hours a week. Many of these aspiring engineers were enthusiastic.
New Introduction to Web Technologies
Interview with François-Xavier Bois (EPITA 2000), co-founder of digital agency KerniX on his latest book on dynamic websites. François-Xavier Bois (promo EPITA 2000), co-founder of Kernix, digital agency specializing in developing web and mobile applications, has just published "Dynamic Websites: PHP - MySQL - JAVASCRIPT - AJAX" collection Complete Guide - Titan Micro Application editor. Interview.
What is your publication?
This book is an introduction to web technologies and particularly in developing PHP. It's addressed to neophytes. This is the sixth edition. Given the rapid evolution of the sector, each edition requires a lot of fairly consistent updates. This latest edition is enriched with an introductory chapter to the concept of framework. The introductory chapter that presents web technologies in general has undergone major transformations.
How do you see the future of the Web and its benefits?
The Web is becoming every day a little more exciting. With WebSockets, SVG, canvas, drag-and-drop, access to local files, transformations etc.., we are finally able to get closer to the user experience offered by the native applications. It is a real pleasure to finally focus most of our time in ergonomics and functionality. The time of 'hacks' to make the code compatible across browsers is almost behind us and we are delighted! Becoming more "technical", the new Web is proving to be a great opportunity for a structure as "expert" as ours. It should be recalled that only a few tools exist today to develop large scope HTML5 tools. Generalist agencies that use to rely on Adobe tools to prepare the work for them are now completely lost. Combined with the programmed disappearance of FLASH, it is clear that brilliant Web developers have a bright future ahead of them.
What is the specificity of PHP and how does it evolve?
The qualities that have made the strength of PHP are still present today: compatibility (OS, web servers) simplicity, speed and stability. PHP has evolved, however, including advanced features such as late binding state, the "functional" dimension. These features allow you to create high-level web frameworks (such as ours, KWO) that have little to envy concurrent languages. The mass adoption by the developers of the famous frameworks remains the greatest revolution in recent years. A significant advantage of PHP for an agency like ours is the relative simplicity of recruitment. Given the fact that we train our young recruits (like EPITA's "pool"), we are able to expand our team in a quite controlled and serene way.
What is the teaching method of your work?
While writing this book, I wished that the beginner understands the various "layers" implemented in the Web. It was necessary to make it this gigantic web which seems mysterious more "real". In this context, the early chapters present the interaction between browsers and Web servers, and briefly introduce the Internet and HTTP. A tool like Firebug is particularly interesting in this context because it allows to spy on requests and responses. The reader can understand more precisely what happens when submitting a form or the execution of an AJAX request . Once this general picture drawn, we enter core of the book, with the introduction of HTML (form elements), the bases of language (variables, data types, control structures, function), regular expressions, the mail sending, access to databases, sessions, cookies, access to files, XML , etc.. An example is conducted as a thread throughout the book. An entire chapter is devoted to security which remains a major issue on the web.
"Dynamic Websites: PHP - MySQL - JAVASCRIPT - AJAX", François-Xavier Bois Collection Complete Guide - Titan Micro Application. Summer Schools : EWHA in Paris (Part 2)
Second and last part of our interviews series of the Korean students from EWHA University, Seoul. They spent ten days in Paris on campus for EPITA's Summer School program. This Summer Session was focused on Web Security, and the students were also able to enjoy the sights here and seize Parisian atmosphere.
You can read the previous interviews here
Junghyun Lee
Introduce yourself in a few words (ex: nationality, academic background & professional aspirations).
I'm Junghyun Lee, from Korea. I'm a senior in EWHA University, studying Computer Science. I want to work in IT Consulting.
Why did you want to be part of a Summer School program like Epita's? Why did you choose to come to France? Why choosing EPITA (did you know Epita before?)
I heard about EPITA from a friend of mine who advised me to come here. The main reason I came is because I love Paris (been there three times) : there is a lot of places to visit, a lot of sights.
What's your overall opinion on your stay in France, for Epita Summer Schools? Did you like how you were welcomed? Did you enjoy the activities submitted to you (on campus and miscellaneous activities in Paris)?
Everything was great, really, I enjoyed the time I spent here. People at EPITA were nice and very available for us.
Is this Summer Schools program encouraging you to apply for an International Master at EPITA?
After graduating, I don't think I will be studying anything related to computers anymore, so I don't think so.
What do you think of the content of the classes you took? How has your relationship with the professors at EPITA been?
Well, the first classes we had weren't easy, but it became easier and easier as the professors were teaching. They were very nice, explained briefly and clearly, and were constantly checking if everyone understood. It was pleasant to learn in those conditions.
What do you think of the conditions and the general organization revolving around your stay and your activities here? Do they match with your expectations?
Yes, everything went well.
Do you have any anecdote you would like to share with us? (about French culture, a visit, or something that happened when you were here)
It's maybe not an anecdote, but the way of living in France is really different. The general atmosphere, when you go to a restaurant, then have a coffee 'en terrasse', or drink a beer with a friend: kind of like Montmartre atmosphere, I loved it.
I would like to thank EPITA for greeting us this summer, I really enjoyed this trip.
Jiyoung An
Introduce yourself in a few words (ex: nationality, academic background & professional aspirations).
I'm Jiyoung An, a junior student in EWHA, I study Computer Science and Psychology. I don't know yet about my future career, I want to study more for now.
Why did you want to be part of a Summer School program like Epita's? Why did you choose to come to France? Why choosing EPITA (did you know Epita before?)
I never studied in another country, so it was something I was already considering before going : maybe get a degree from abroad one day. Then we had this opportunity and Web Security was intriguing to me, so I decided to go!
What's your overall opinion on your stay in France, for Epita Summer Schools? Did you like how you were welcomed? Did you enjoy the activities submitted to you (on the campus and miscellaneous activities in Paris)?
I really like it in here, we were really well welcomed. I liked the visits we did, it was too short ! Wish I could've seen more, having more time to feel the Parisian atmosphere would have been great, but I'm satisfied of what we were able to live and see.
Is this Summer Schools program encouraging you to apply for an International Master at EPITA?
I'm planning on having a PhD, so I might consider coming back for some time.
What do you think of the content of the classes you took? How has your relationship with the professors at EPITA been?
Generally speaking, it was interesting; I believe I learnt a lot during these ten days. The professors were very kind to us, we asked numerous questions and they were always available to answer. There was always practice added to the theoretical courses, it was helpful to being able to understand them well.
What do you think of the conditions and the general organization revolving around your stay and your activities here? Do they match with your expectations?
I don't really have anything to add, people at EPITA were very kind to us too, always making sure lunch and dinner were ready for us, helping us when needed. It was enjoyable.
Do you have any anecdote you would like to share with us? (about French culture, a visit, or something that happened when you were here)
You really need more air conditioners! Apart from that, I don't really have an anecdote to share here, I just wanted to thank EPITA's staff for their caring, providing food and making sure we have everything we need, and EPITA buddies for being so nice when accompanying us in the visits of Paris we made.
You can read the previous interviews here
Junghyun Lee
Introduce yourself in a few words (ex: nationality, academic background & professional aspirations).
I'm Junghyun Lee, from Korea. I'm a senior in EWHA University, studying Computer Science. I want to work in IT Consulting.
Why did you want to be part of a Summer School program like Epita's? Why did you choose to come to France? Why choosing EPITA (did you know Epita before?)
I heard about EPITA from a friend of mine who advised me to come here. The main reason I came is because I love Paris (been there three times) : there is a lot of places to visit, a lot of sights.
What's your overall opinion on your stay in France, for Epita Summer Schools? Did you like how you were welcomed? Did you enjoy the activities submitted to you (on campus and miscellaneous activities in Paris)?
Everything was great, really, I enjoyed the time I spent here. People at EPITA were nice and very available for us.
Is this Summer Schools program encouraging you to apply for an International Master at EPITA?
After graduating, I don't think I will be studying anything related to computers anymore, so I don't think so.
What do you think of the content of the classes you took? How has your relationship with the professors at EPITA been?
Well, the first classes we had weren't easy, but it became easier and easier as the professors were teaching. They were very nice, explained briefly and clearly, and were constantly checking if everyone understood. It was pleasant to learn in those conditions.
What do you think of the conditions and the general organization revolving around your stay and your activities here? Do they match with your expectations?
Yes, everything went well.
Do you have any anecdote you would like to share with us? (about French culture, a visit, or something that happened when you were here)
It's maybe not an anecdote, but the way of living in France is really different. The general atmosphere, when you go to a restaurant, then have a coffee 'en terrasse', or drink a beer with a friend: kind of like Montmartre atmosphere, I loved it.
I would like to thank EPITA for greeting us this summer, I really enjoyed this trip.
Jiyoung An
Introduce yourself in a few words (ex: nationality, academic background & professional aspirations).
I'm Jiyoung An, a junior student in EWHA, I study Computer Science and Psychology. I don't know yet about my future career, I want to study more for now.
Why did you want to be part of a Summer School program like Epita's? Why did you choose to come to France? Why choosing EPITA (did you know Epita before?)
I never studied in another country, so it was something I was already considering before going : maybe get a degree from abroad one day. Then we had this opportunity and Web Security was intriguing to me, so I decided to go!
What's your overall opinion on your stay in France, for Epita Summer Schools? Did you like how you were welcomed? Did you enjoy the activities submitted to you (on the campus and miscellaneous activities in Paris)?
I really like it in here, we were really well welcomed. I liked the visits we did, it was too short ! Wish I could've seen more, having more time to feel the Parisian atmosphere would have been great, but I'm satisfied of what we were able to live and see.
Is this Summer Schools program encouraging you to apply for an International Master at EPITA?
I'm planning on having a PhD, so I might consider coming back for some time.
What do you think of the content of the classes you took? How has your relationship with the professors at EPITA been?
Generally speaking, it was interesting; I believe I learnt a lot during these ten days. The professors were very kind to us, we asked numerous questions and they were always available to answer. There was always practice added to the theoretical courses, it was helpful to being able to understand them well.
What do you think of the conditions and the general organization revolving around your stay and your activities here? Do they match with your expectations?
I don't really have anything to add, people at EPITA were very kind to us too, always making sure lunch and dinner were ready for us, helping us when needed. It was enjoyable.
Do you have any anecdote you would like to share with us? (about French culture, a visit, or something that happened when you were here)
You really need more air conditioners! Apart from that, I don't really have an anecdote to share here, I just wanted to thank EPITA's staff for their caring, providing food and making sure we have everything we need, and EPITA buddies for being so nice when accompanying us in the visits of Paris we made.
Summer Schools : EWHA in Paris (Part 1)
As you may know, Korean students from EWHA Woman University in Seoul spent ten days in Paris for EPITA's Summer School program, and left yesterday. The courses were focused on Web Security, and they also made the most of their stay by visiting Paris.
Here are interviews of HueiRi So, an EWHA Student, and
Philippe Meunier, professor at EWHA and accompanying the students during their
trip. Don't miss out the two next interviews to come in a few days!
HueiRi So
Introduce yourself in a few words (ex: nationality, academic background & professional aspirations).
My name is HueiRi So, I'm from Seoul, Korea. I'm studying at EWHA University and I want to work in the IT field.
Why did you want to be part of a Summer School program like Epita's? Why did you choose to come to France? Why choosing EPITA (did you know Epita before?)
I first heard about this school and this program from friends of mine who already came here, I was really interested in visiting France, so I decided to come. EWHA is a University with a lot of different majors and specialties and I also wanted to know how it was to study in a school focused on IT.
What's your overall opinion on your stay in France, for Epita Summer Schools? Did you like how you were welcomed? Did you enjoy the activities submitted to you (on the campus and miscellaneous activities in Paris)?
It was amazing. I enjoyed most of the courses we took here, it was a bit tough sometimes but the professors were very kind to us and gave very detailed classes. The activities we did were fun, visiting Paris, seeing the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre ... We did a lot of interesting things and we were very well welcomed at EPITA.
Is this Summer Schools program encouraging you to apply for an International Master at EPITA?
I don't have a that much information on EPITA's others programs yet, but I will check!
What do you think of the content of the classes you took? How has your relationship with the professors at EPITA been?
Generally speaking, it wasn't that hard. The courses were very well taught by the professors, they made it very easy to understand. I like their approach, with a lot of practice aside from the theory. We weren't that used to Unix for example, but we learnt fast thanks to them. This Summer School was focused on Web Security, and during the practice we also worked in the attacker's point of view. It was really fun and interesting.
What do you think of the conditions and the general organization revolving around your stay and your activities here? Do they match with your expectations?
It was perfect, everyone treated us nicely, we did a lot of activities: they took care of us, even providing lunch and dinner !
Do you have any anecdote you would like to share with us? (about French culture, a visit, or something that happened when you were here)
It's not really an anecdote, but I was a bit shocked by food differences. I expected it to be more narrowed on French famous dishes, but it was really different.
Philippe Meunier
What's your overall opinion about this stay with the Korean students? What do you think about the general organization of the events?
I liked it, and the students did too. They had to deal with a lot, courses in the day, visits at night and weekend, in addition to the cultural differences but that went very well. We are all satisfied.
What do you think about the programs, were the classes given useful, relevant? Did you like the way the classes were taught in EPITA, from content to methodology?
They chose to study Web Security, so it went well: they were interested and the courses were interesting. They learnt about Unix, security protocols, and the theoretical aspects were always backed up with practice. They learnt a lot.
Concerning the cultural approach and the activities submitted, what is your general comment on them? Do you think, for example, that the students had too much/not enough free time to discover Paris and French Culture and exploring?
Even if it was tiring, they liked it a lot. As I told you, they were studying the day and going out on for visits and sightseeing in Paris on their free time: the schedule was tight. They spotted a lot of cultural differences, the food was different, the way of life also, so they had to adapt to that very quickly, and they managed well.
Did you have any feedback from EWHA students so far? What did they think of their stay and classes during EPITA's Summer School program?
I don't have a really specific feedback from them yet, maybe we'll talk more about it when we come back, but generally speaking they seem to be happy with their stay in Paris.
Do you have any anecdote you would like to share with us?
Yes, it's a cultural difference that I found a bit funny. Two days ago we were in a little supermarket to buy some snacks, and they were so surprised and curious to see what we have here. They were checking differences, and products we don't have, or they don't have. It took almost half an hour!
Would you recommend EPITA's Summer Schools to other students? Why?
Sure, we are trying to do the same thing next year with future students. This trip went very well, and the students were happy, so I hope I can come back.
United in Sound
Alexandre
Bodin (EPITA 2014) is a member of Unisson, the electronic music association
at EPITA, for a little more than three years. He has served as president since
September 2011. Here is an interview of this student's passion about music and
lively desire to make his school vibrate with his association.
Unisson, what is it?
We are primarily here to make students discover different styles of electronic
music. Huge hits such as David Guetta, LMFAO, Bob Sinclar and others, everyone
knows them. We want to go further in our approach to discover a culture little
known to the general public. House, electro, dubstep, drum'n'bass, trance,
hardcore, hardtek ... The gender diversity within the association is one of our
greatest strengths. One of the peculiarities of the association is also that our
rehearsal room is a trailer. We are committed to it and do not let go since the
creation of the association in 2003.
How do you share your tastes and techniques?
To quickly teach how to mix to beginners, we organize training sessions called "pools mix". On these occasions, we use the knowledge that I have gathered from elders to form, at my turn, new members to the pleasure of mix and sound. Besides that, we discuss recent tracks that we have been enjoying and we want to also make people around us vibrate, by sharing our discoveries with them! We listen to our latest productions and ask some advice to elders so we can improve. It is rare, when it's crowded, not to hear a punchy kick or a saturated and purring synth bass, inside the trailer when you come by.
Alexandre Bodin, mixing.
How is organized the
association?
We are divided into four main areas: the center mix, dedicated to learning and
technique development; scratch pole, about learning and perfecting techniques
of scratching; pole production, which allows members to acquire some knowledge
of computer assisted music and can create their own piece of music; the event
center, organizing the parties, in partnership with various Students
Association from IONIS GROUP most of the
time. Integration week-ends, sound systems, parties, Student's Association
elections ... We have successfully managed more than a dozen events during the
first semester, which is huge for an association whose members do not have much
time!
Unisson at the International Party's April 10, 2012
What is your best memory?
One of the most important events organized by Unisson was undoubtedly Underground City, March 28, 2009, in the EPITA's
Under. I was just entering the association. The concept was simple: to make
people discover the culture of underground electronic music. Almost all members
were on stage this night, so the association can share with the crowd his
musical universe. The atmosphere was highly charged, the audience seemed
totally hooked! Victims of our success, we had to turn a lot of people away at
the entrance, as the Under was packed. A project of Underground City II is in
the minds of many members of Unisson.
International Experience @EPITA: Eunchang LEE's Voice
Eunchang LEE studied at EPITA during the Winter 2012 semester as Exchange Student coming from our partner University UOS (University of Seoul, South Korea). Interviewed on campus before concluding his study abroad, here is his look back.
1. Introduce yourself in a few words.
I'm Eun Chang Lee, from South Korea. My majors are Information Engineering & Business. After I majored I plan on working for three or four years, and then I want to do an MBA so I can become a CEO.
2. Why did you choose to pursue an exchange semester at EPITA?
Firstly because I want to have experience with other cultures, other languages. This is really important to me, and, when I will be doing my MBA, I will have to make a semester abroad again, so it's good to have a first experience abroad before that.
3. If you could recommend a semester abroad at EPITA to a friend, colleague, family member or acquaintance, what keys aspects of your experience would you focus on?
There is a lot to see here, and France belongs to Western Europe so other countries are close. Knowing that, it's easy to travel and discover other cultures. I think I would focus on that.
In addition to that, you can learn a lot by choosing several programs, so even if I have already learnt some of the content, I believe that it will be very interesting for my friends.
4. What do you think of the content of the classes you took in EPITA? How has your relationship with the professors been? In your opinion, are they available for students?
Concerning the professors, I love that you can send them an email and they reply right away. It's easy to have a conversation with them, classes are very interactive : the relationship with them is really good.
5. What do you enjoy the most in Paris?
There are a lot of museums and exhibitions in Paris, a lot of sights, like the Eiffel Tower; this is something I really enjoy. I also like to have drinks with friends, and Paris is a good place to hang out, even if it can be expensive and bars are not opened all night...
6. What are the main differences between your studies, the work environment, the way of life here in Epita Paris and your home university?
Firstly, timetables are not the same every week, it can vary a lot [...]. The other main difference is that in Korea, there are very few international students. It's the opposite here, there are many international students, so it's really easy to chat with them, discover new cultures.
7. If Paris was an acronym, what would it stand for ?
Pretty
Art
Rough (Expensive)
International
Slow (Administration)
Episode 3: PRI the Last of the Students' Voice
With the last of our student testimonials, we'd like you to meet both the Be Yourself Team & the So Innov teams.
Sumit Gupta and Srinivas Reddy Telukuntla participated in the Be Yourself team:
1. Introduce yourself (academic background, and your role in your working team).
I'm Sumit, I have a Bachelor degree in Technology & Computer Science with a four years' experience in System Security and Networks. I'm doing a Master degree in Computer Science.
I'm Srinivas, I have a Bachelor in Computer Science and am now majoring in Software Engineering for my graduate degree.
2. Which company do you work for? What is your project about, can you describe it? (topic, goals, etc.)
This project is called Be Yourself, it's a video competition website, where users can bid and vote for videos, and the winner earns credits.
4. How is your team organized? Who is working on what?
Our team is composed of three developpers and a team leader, who also checks for quality assurance.
5. What do you like the most about this working experience?
What we both really like is the fact that we have to acquire new fundamentals. Working on a framework we knew nothing about before was quite challenging (Symphony 2). It's a new technology to us, there is a lot to learn about it and since it's a French framework, documentation is in French. Even if it can be hard to start from scratch with it, this challenge is a great experience provider, that's what we like about it.
6. Did you develop any specific skill (personal, work-related, etc.) during this project? What have you gained/acquired during this project both professionally and humanely?
Concerning the skills we had to develop, working as a team was interesting. Management and human skills were very important. Besides, we have two French guys on our team, so it was good for integration.
7. How has the PRI enriched your academic experience at EPITA?
We didn't have PHP courses, and this project is developed with Symphony 2, so we had to learn but that's something that directly adds up to all the different classes we had in Epita, so it enriched the experience.
8. What impact (if any) does the PRI have on your professional path/orientation?
Despite being something entirely new for us, working on Symphony was a really good experience for us, something we are directly going to use in the future, so it also confirms the path we wanted to have.
Adrien Martignoles, Deepika Rajevane, Sanjyot Jadhav reflect upon their So Innov PRI experience:
1. Introduce yourself (academic background, and your role in your working team).
Adrien Martignoles : I'm a French student in EPITA (GITM).
Deepika Rajevane and Senjyot Jadhav : We are studying here in EPITA International Master, majoring in Software Engineering.
2. Which company do you work for? What is your project about, can you describe it? (topic, goals, etc.)
We work for So Innov, which is a startup created by two University professors. They try to find new ways of thinking Engineering Systems, New Methodologies. This project is a medical and sports program : sensors gather data to generate data outputs and graphs on the website and the mobile application.
4. How is your team organized? Who is working on what?
We are a team of four composed as such : two are working on the android app, one on the servers and the ftp, and the last person is working on the website and the interface.
5. What do you like the most about this working experience?
What we like the most is that this project is very abstract and new, and we have to start from this abstract concept, and find a practical and useful service we can create out of it.
6. Did you develop any specific skill (personal, work-related, etc.) during this project? What have you gained/acquired during this project both professionally and humanely?
We had to develop a lot of skills, firstly we are a team composed of two French students, and two Indian students, so it was really interesting and sometimes challenging culturally speaking. Then, there are several technologies we had to improve (such as android development, Javascript, etc.).
7. How has the PRI enriched your academic experience at EPITA?
It has enriched our experience by making us working on different technologies (some new, some we had to improve). Deepika and Sanjyot had to improve their android development skills for example, their java skills and also web tools (HTML 5, Javascript, etc.).
8. What impact (if any) does the PRI have on your professional path/orientation?
It has confirmed the path we wanted to take, some of the technologies and skills we use for this project are directly connected to what we need in internship, and the professional world in general.
PRI Project Episode 2: The Vianoveo Team
This summer our International Master Students are working on a challengingly exciting research & innovation project. Jigar Thakkar's interview published last week was the first episode of our 2-part series taking you on a tour of both student views & company perspectives.
Discover Hrishikesh Mejari from the Vianoveo Team with his reflections on the project!
1. Introduce yourself (academic background, and your role in your working team).
I'm Hrishikesh Mejari, I come from India where I had a Bachelor in Engineering, and now I'm majoring in Software Engineering for my International Master. I work as a developer on this project.
2. Which company do you work for? What is your project about, can you describe it?
This project was brought to us by Vianoveo, which is an innovation company. This project is about developing a tool for companies, so they could easily manage and organize teams, plan the resources they are going to need and do market analysis. It can be compared to Silverlight, which isn't working on iOS platforms. Our goal here was to develop this kind of tool using HTML.5, Javascript and CSS3 mainly, so it can be used on every operating system and platform.
The Vianoveo @EPITA Team: Kiran PATIL, Hrishikesh MEJARI & Nitish BHOLE
4. How is your team organized? Who is working on what?
We are a team of three people, one of us is working on the documentation for the tool, so this project can be easily pursued in the future, and I'm one of the two developers in this team.
5. What do you like the most about this working experience?
What I like the most is that there are a lot of web technologies to learn, it takes time but it's really worth it. In addition to this, we are working on a big scale project, and we had to think of all the aspects and realize every step of it: that's a great experience.
6. Did you develop any specific skill (personal, work-related, etc.) during this project? What have you gained/acquired during this project both professionally and humanely?
I wanted to learn HTML 5, and this project is mainly focused on this technology, so I'm making the most of it and I learn a lot. I also have to learn to use many other tech such as like jQuery, databases, how to use MVC, etc. I think it's a really good thing, for the future, to have this kind of experience now.
7. How has the PRI enriched your academic experience at EPITA?
It has enriched my experience by adding a more "professional" aspect to the way I work. We had to learn more, to understand the exact needs of the company, to take it very seriously. We also had to conduct our own research, the information we use doesn't come from course materials this time.
8. What impact (if any) does the PRI have on your professional orientation?
Firstly, the level and the expectations are higher, so in a professional way that's very useful to have this kind of project now. It has confirmed the professional path I had in mind: working as a web developer. Now I can use this experience to value my skills.
News from the PRI Front!
A look back on EPITA's Summer 2012 Project for Research & Innovation from Jigar Thakkar (SFR Cloud Team):
1. Introduce yourself.
I'm an IT engineer in India, studied 4years (bac +4), in EPITA I'm majoring in Software Engineering. I also work as a Software Developer in India. In this project I work on the technical side, which is mainly software architecture and development.
2. Which company do you work for? What is your project about, can you describe it? (topic, goals, etc.)
SFR is about to launch a Cloud Computing service, and we are developing a tool to help them evaluating how much they should charge each client, according to their needs: the amount of data they are going to require.
3. How much time do you have to realize this project?
We don't have a real ETA, since our project has a few steps that can be added, but we have two weeks left in a 1month and a half project.
4. How is your team organized? Who is working on what?
Our team is composed of five members, I'm working on the development and the architecture with two of them and two other members are making the interface, the design and the user's guide.
5. What do you like the most about this working experience?
What I like the most about this project is that it's a global project. We have to deal with all the faces of this project and its development. The project was brought to us with only textual information : when it was processed, we had to work from scratch.
6. Did you develop any specific skill (personal, work-related, etc.) during this project? What have you gained/acquired during this project both professionally and humanely?
Firstly I had to improve my programing and database creation skills, but what took the most effort and time was to choose which framework to use to develop the project. We finally decided to work with Struts Framework, after 20days of learning and adaptation.
7. How has the PRI enriched your academic experience at EPITA?
Working from scratch, know more about tech. architecture, that's a good addition to what we learn in Epita. Besides, I feel like we learn a bit better this way, and more importantly: we learn more. We had to improve our skills on topics we are going to use in the future, it makes it a great experience.
8. What impact (if any) does the PRI have on your professional path/orientation?
It's a project for SFR, that is going to be used by thousands of people, so it's a really good experience. Since we had to work on all the aspects of this project, not only development, I can now reach the level needed to be a project manager more quickly. So not only it confirmed my orientation but it was really helpful.
EPITA Signs Agreement with the University of Amsterdam
Interview with Gabriel Tzinmann (EPITA, Class of 2014), president of the association Epiworld, on the signing of this aagreement and the importance of the international dimension of the school.
View of the University of Amsterdam
EPITA recently signed a new cooperation agreement with the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) for organizing exchanges of students and teaching staff. The University of Amsterdam, the largest university in the Netherlands, has over 28,000 students spread over nine different faculties. This accord is the opportunity to appraise the weight of the International aspect at EPITA with Gabriel Tzinmann (EPITA, graduation year 2014), president of Epiworld - an association that aims at creating festive events between local and overseas students on school premises.
What is so interesting about this new agreement?
The agreement was signed in continuation of international position of EPITA. It will enable new exchanges between the two entities and promote cultural diversity. It is essential for students of EPITA to be able to adapt to different cultures and get used to different accents of English worldwide. Thus, students will be able to discover Amsterdam and a university setting completely different from that proposed by EPITA.
What is the contribution of the international experience for a student?
Nowadays, it is inconceivable not to master the English language. Companies are creating more and more international projects and any software engineer must be able to work with people of different nationalities. To make this possible, it is imperative to focus on cultural differences and develop a spirit of open mindedness.
An international experience allows a real personal development: we acquire another outlook on life and we enrich ourselves by experiencing the differences in various regions of the world. In addition to discovering a new country, international students learn to adapt to other cultures: living there is the real training.
Gabriel Tzinmann, during an exchange in South Korea
At what point does the international aspect come into play for a student at EPITA?
Nearly half of the students discover the international aspect in the second part of the second year of preparatory classes. Many academic exchanges are proposed including from countries like South Africa, England, China, South Korea, the United States, Finland, Ireland and many other countries. It is also possible to go abroad during the engineering program, as an exchange student or for an internship.
Are there any recommended destinations or modes of exchange?
There is no bad mode of exchange or bad destination. Each country has its own peculiarities and customs. Students have a panel of choice to extend their cultural and intellectual viewpoints. In general, students living an international experience often want to redo it, even if in some cases they face difficulties in adapting to the foreign culture. It is therefore strongly advised to first consult with the specificities of each region before choosing a destination.
Students gathered at the initiative of Epiworld in a pancake house
How is the the international aspect implemented at EPITA?
The international platform plays a key role at EPITA; it is imperative to validate at least one academic semester abroad, and many courses are taught in English during the engineering cycle. Students wishing to extend this international experience in a professional setting can enroll in the new course called "Global IT Management" which allows to carry out projects with students enrolled in International Masters at EPITA. It is also possible to meet the foreign student community, via EpiWorld, and create strong bonds of friendship while developing one's professional network at the same time.
Webshell - Dataconnexions Contest Winner
The project undertaken by three students of EPITA won a competition, which recognizes the best reuse of public data services, on 29 May 2012.
Webshell, a new computer language project supported by Thibaud Arnault, Arnaud Richard, Tibor Vass, three students of the fifth year of Media and Information Technology specialization (MTI) of EPITA and Mehdi Medjaoui (INSA Lyon), eventually won the Dataconnexions contest, which ended on May 29.
The project also won second prize at Innovact Campus Awards and was selected to join the French Tech Tour, which allows its creators to go to Silicon Valley from June 2 to 8 and meet various Internet and ICT based companies.
Distinguished by the experts of the Open Data
The Dataconnexions contest was the first of four planned for 2012 by Etalab, a mission under the authority of the Prime Minister in charge for opening up of public data, to reward the best applications and services that support the reuse of public data. The competing projects were submitted for evaluation to a jury of professionals and individuals qualified in open data ecosystems.
The contest winners had a presentation time dedicated to their projects, in front of the qualified community of Dataconnexions, and a time to articulate their needs to accelerate their development. The innovation actors, partners of Dataconnexions are committed to supporting the development of their projects according to needs.
Developing applications faster
The platform Webshell hosts the Webshell language allowing creation of Web and mobile applications that mix API (also called mash-up) faster. This language is inspired from JavaScript, the most widely used Web language, and from shell programming language - a command line language that is known to all developers. Moreover this language adapts and can mix with all existing languages; hence there is no entry barrier to learning it. It's an investment. It has language support and developer tools such as:
• A development and debugging console, through which we can test the responses returned from scripts, with an inspector that allows developers to check the data returned by the application and therefore better manage its construction.
• A Storage space for virtual files to store and write scripts (programs running data). This file system can be synchronized with Dropbox and Github; plugins for Netbeans and Eclipse are under development.
• A theme and template production tool (graphs, web page architecture) that allows developers to structure the design of their application faster.
• An analysis tool which tracks API calls related to data / web services and thus control its implementation by managing the number of queries and analyzing trends and usage of its users / customers.
• A space for exchange and communication between developers and data and web services providers. It consists of a central forum with sub sections dedicated to themes or specific data providers, IRC channel (Internet Relay Chat) that allows real-time chat with the developer community and a Webshell Blog that relays the latest information on the API, data and OpenData.
Today, the API is still in private beta version but already has over 150 registered developers on the platform. The project managers want to improve the tools around this APIs to become the reference on APIs in France and worldwide.
To learn more about the project, click here.
Spring Blood Donation Drive: A success
All schools that fall under the IONIS Education Group came together on March 21 to promote the generous and good citizen act of donating blood. Information booths, collections and conferences were held on various campuses of the group. The event entitled "Le Printemps du Sang" (Spring of Blood Donation) is a result of more than five years of collaboration between the IONIS Education Group and the French Blood Establishment, EFS.
The Villejuif Campus as well as the campus at Le Kremlin Bicêtre, each witnessed a contribution from 82 volunteers according to Dr. François Charpentier, physician at EFS and director of the collection. On the campus of Ivry-sur-Seine, 75 donors volunteered according to the team EFS.
Being a good citizen
Students from all schools of IONIS Education Group attended the day of rallying. "This is the fourth time I gave my blood. It costs nothing, it's useful and important," said Claire, a student at Epitech. For Corinne Bréchoire, events manager at EPITA, "donating blood is an important gesture for citizens for saving lives and for research. It thus brings a little something that can be a great thing. It's a really nice thing to be able do so at one's workplace." Charles, a student at IPSA, adds: "organizing a blood donation camp on the IONIS campus is a very good idea, students do not hesitate to participate!"
A first time for some
For many students the participation in this event represented a debut in blood donation. This is the first time that Victor, a student from ESME Sudria, donated his blood and he is convinced that he would have "never taken the time to do it elsewhere if IONIS Education Group hadn't come up with the idea of doing it here. This is a great idea!" Helen, a student at Sup'Biotech, had not donated blood before, "I know it can be useful and help people who really need it. I did not have the opportunity to do it earlier, so I spent no time in grabbing the opportunity now" she says. Quentin, a student at Ionis-STM, is pleased to have made this generous gesture and said he was very happy during the time spent with doctors.
The need for blood is felt throughout the year: please get in touch with EFS for dates and venues of future blood donation camps!
For more information and drives in your neighborhood visit www.dondusang.net
Ewha University's Summer @EPITA!
A year after the first edition of the Summer School with the University of Seoul, EPITA will be very happy to welcome 18 students from the Ewha Womans University (also in South Korea) in 2012!
From August, 14th to 23rd, the International Office will be honored to give these students the great opportunity to discover Paris in different ways: by river boats, bus, foot and even in a balloon! Of course, its most famous spots like the Eiffel Tower and the "Champs Elysées" will be part of the program.
During 5 days, they will be studying a Web Security course, completely taught in English by one of EPITA's professor.
We hope that the Ewha students will have a great time on the IONIS Technological Campus this summer and we wish our Summer Programs to prosper in the future!
24 Hours as Logica Telecom Project Manager
On May 10, under the project "Live My Job" sponsored by Logica, two students took part in this opportunity to discover a practical profession, its specific characteristics and constraints.
Selected after responding to an online multiple choice questionaire about the company, two third-year students, Audric Pappalardo and Jean-François Picard (EPITA Class of 2014 ) were selected for the project "Live My Job" proposed by this European enterprise in software services, consulting, systems integration and outsourcing.
The project "Live My Job," spread over the first half of 2012. It provided an opportunity for 21 teams of students from different schools to spend a day with a part of Logica to better understand the reality of Business Project Managers, Consultants or Technical Architects. In this experiment, a second challenge was offered to them to become " Occupational Reporters" by creating the most buzz about their day within the trade.
An Immersive Dip
Audric Pappalardo and Jean-Francois Picard shadowed Jean-Christophe Picq, Project Manager in the Telecommunications Sector in Montpellier including a team strategy meeting at the customer's office. The two students met the team members (Tester, Developer, Analyst, etc) and discovered the different methodological phases: "following a new request, the team receives functional specifications that are transcribed into technical specifications by Analysts. What follows is a development phase performed by Programmers. Finally, multiple tests (unit, integration and assembly) are performed before delivery" explained Mr. Picq to the students.
A Practical Approach
Both Epiteans returned delighted with their experience at Logica: "The most interesting moment of our day was the scenario of Project Manager", Audric comments. "We were able to interview each member of his team, and discuss some difficulties of the trade and learn about their roles," he pursued. "Jean-Christophe Picq offered us a planning exercise in a real situation," said Jean-Francois. "We had to organize a simplified schedule for the next draft. To do this we asked each person in the team to know their role, experience, desires and availability. The team has very kindly supplied us with sufficient information and we are proud to report this schedule has proven to be fairly close to the one established by the Project Manager," he concluded.
But this experience does not stop here. Competing with 20 other student teams selected to participate in the project "Live My Job," for three weeks, students have sought to create a buzz by disseminating and communicating about their experiences via photos, mini-movies, Facebook pages or tweets. A party will be held soon at the head office of Logica in Paris, to allow different teams and sponsors to meet and to distinguish those who know how best to communicate on these business lines.
Selected after responding to an online multiple choice questionaire about the company, two third-year students, Audric Pappalardo and Jean-François Picard (EPITA Class of 2014 ) were selected for the project "Live My Job" proposed by this European enterprise in software services, consulting, systems integration and outsourcing.
The project "Live My Job," spread over the first half of 2012. It provided an opportunity for 21 teams of students from different schools to spend a day with a part of Logica to better understand the reality of Business Project Managers, Consultants or Technical Architects. In this experiment, a second challenge was offered to them to become " Occupational Reporters" by creating the most buzz about their day within the trade.
An Immersive Dip
Audric Pappalardo and Jean-Francois Picard shadowed Jean-Christophe Picq, Project Manager in the Telecommunications Sector in Montpellier including a team strategy meeting at the customer's office. The two students met the team members (Tester, Developer, Analyst, etc) and discovered the different methodological phases: "following a new request, the team receives functional specifications that are transcribed into technical specifications by Analysts. What follows is a development phase performed by Programmers. Finally, multiple tests (unit, integration and assembly) are performed before delivery" explained Mr. Picq to the students.
A Practical Approach
Both Epiteans returned delighted with their experience at Logica: "The most interesting moment of our day was the scenario of Project Manager", Audric comments. "We were able to interview each member of his team, and discuss some difficulties of the trade and learn about their roles," he pursued. "Jean-Christophe Picq offered us a planning exercise in a real situation," said Jean-Francois. "We had to organize a simplified schedule for the next draft. To do this we asked each person in the team to know their role, experience, desires and availability. The team has very kindly supplied us with sufficient information and we are proud to report this schedule has proven to be fairly close to the one established by the Project Manager," he concluded.
But this experience does not stop here. Competing with 20 other student teams selected to participate in the project "Live My Job," for three weeks, students have sought to create a buzz by disseminating and communicating about their experiences via photos, mini-movies, Facebook pages or tweets. A party will be held soon at the head office of Logica in Paris, to allow different teams and sponsors to meet and to distinguish those who know how best to communicate on these business lines.
International Master: Summer Kick-Off BBQ
EPITA's International Team welcomes all International Master Students on the Villejuif Campus this Friday, June 15th for its inaugural Summer Kick-Off BBQ!
Students in the Fundamental, Specialization and Internship Semester along with EPITA's Faculty & Staff, will rejoice around a tasty summer grill before choosing fun activities amongst a variety of sports (volley-ball, cricket, soccer, etc) & games (cards, etc).
Come prepared to eat well & play hard, while keeping an open mind to a few surprises...
Come prepared to eat well & play hard, while keeping an open mind to a few surprises...
When: Friday, June 15th from 11:30am to 3:30pm
Where: 66, rue Guy Moquet, 94800 Villejuif, France
See you then!
NEW: EPITA launches an International Summer School for Summer 2013!
The whole team of the International Office is very happy to announce that a Summer Session will be offered at EPITA from June 2013.
The program lasts 6 weeks and the students will gain a minimum of 7 European credits (ECTS). Students will be asked to choose among the list below (for example, the course list will be enriched), a selection of courses equivalent to a minimum of 3 ECTS credits, plus the integration program, which is compulsory for all students.
Introduction to Project Management - 1.5 ECTS
Building and delivering powerful presentations - 1.5 ECTS
Mobile applications development on iPhone - 1.5 ECTS
Mobile applications development on Android - 1.5 ECTS
Integration Program - 4 ECTS:
Team building and getting over the culture shock - 1 ECTS
French survival courses - 3 ECTS
Numerous cultural activities will be organized throughout the summer, like many visits of Paris and its surroundings, Eiffel Tour, Champ de Mars, Montmartre, Louvre, Chateau de Versailles, Disneyland Paris etc. There also will be an optional 3-day trip to the South of France in order to discover another part of our beautiful country.
Regarding accommodation, every student coming to our international Summer School program will be staying at the prestigious 3 stars « Park & Suites » residence which is located 15 minutes away from EPITA's campus by foot.
The cost of the program for the whole 6 weeks is 2,600€ (2,300 € for students coming our partner universities).
This price includes a selection of courses equivalent to a minimum of 7 ECTS credits (individual selection + integration program), cultural activities and accommodation with breakfast. Other courses are available upon additional fees.
Airport pickup and drop-off and all transportation for cultural activities are also included.
An extra cost of 120€ will be needed if the students wants half board on campus (Monday to Friday) and 250€ for full board on campus (Monday to Friday).
We will soon update you with our dedicated website. We are looking forward to hosting international students through summer in Paris!
Read with Epibook
The association Epibook collects and distributes books in junior highs and high schools that lack them.
Epibook works for the interest of sustainable development by giving new life to books that have more use than if remaining in boxes. The association was founded in 2011 by Mehdi Tsouli, its current president, currently in his Sophomore year. Through its comitment, Epibook makes books live longer and fosters deeper interactions between generations. Furthermore, this EPITA association allows disadvantaged children to have adequate access to relevant books.
Interview with Michael Selema (EPITA Class of 2013), his vice president.
Why create Epibook?
Literature has always been something very important to me. Since my childhood books fascinated me. As for Mehdi Tsouli, he finds great interest in Sociology & Philosophy. Wishing to share our passion, we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity we have at EPITA to be encouraged to work for the community's life while receiving coaching and support from the school. It is important that each student can receive all necessary means to learn the best way possible and discover the benefits of reading. Knowledge is the basis for every college student sucess and we take this to heart. We want to enable graduates to succeed as much as possible by providing access to books that will allow them to review for their exams under better conditions.
How does the association help you grow?
With Epibook, I was able to leverage a number of my competencies and skills. I created our first website (now taken over by students we recruited) and with my knowledge of HTML / CSS, I am currently involved in its improvement. In addition, we have been operating for just over a year and organized book collections within the school but also through the help of partner organizations. My mother worked in a high school. I have used her connections to harvest a large number of books (around 200). Finally it is important for the association to know how to "sell" our cause within junior highs & high schools. So I continually deepen my experience of human contact, particularly developed during the Open Days and Fairs I have attended since I started at EPITA.
What results are you proud of?
The first thing of course is the initial creation of the association itself! We, with the current president Mehdi Tsouli, and later with some other members, created Epibook from A to Z. Up to date we have collected a lot of books (over 400!). It was one of our goals last year. We have also made agreements with partners, to ensure flexibility for the distribution of books.
What are your plans for the future?
My plans for the association are to benefit as many children as possible of the books we have collected. I also aim to extend the activity of the association abroad, especially poor African countries. For this purpose, we developed our relationships with institutions such as the Paris City Council and the Embassy of Madagascar.
Speed Dating: Picking up your Internship in 30 minutes
From May 9 to 11 the 12th edition of "Speed Dating for Internships" at EPITA took place. Back on this special time of meetings between students and businesses with Laurent Trébulle, director of Career Services on campus.
For this 12th edition, 45 companies participated in a Speed Dating Event at EPITA.
What is it?
Like Speed Dating for romantic purposes, I created this concept to promote fast meetings between our students and businesses so they can see if they have an affinity and a desire to go further. It is also a way for us to remind companies that the students are on track in their search for their 4th year internship, which begins in September for five months, and then encourages them to offer their positions now. 80% of companies are returning participants, some continuously since the first event back in 2000 such as Bouygues Telecom.
How are these meetings?
Companies have 30 minutes to introduce themselves, their professional environment and what they expect from students who would join them. Following the presentation, the company shall be in another room and privately meet students who were interested in the presentation to answer questions, assess candidates and collect resumes.
What are these companies?
Many sectors are represented: internet players (Meetic Sale-Private), digital communication agencies (Digitas, Fullsix or Wunderman), game publishers (Ubisoft, Eugen System or Kobojo), professional software publishers (Murex or Teradata), new media actors (Backelite - mobile application development or Ysance - Facebook application development), great names of the banking industry (BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole) , media (TF1 or Eurosport) or manufacturers (Thales, Safran, MBDA). And do not forget the startups, often created by Alumni from EPITA (Jump Computing, Astase, Aerys, Hexaglobe, etc..) Who are recruiting interns from profiles they know well.
How many concrete internship offers will be made?
On average companies have three or four positions each to offer, which makes more than 130 options offered over three days. A few hundred will be provided through this event. We're at the 12th edition and is a format that works well.
Students cannot attend the 45 presentations, how do they make their choices?
We ask each student to attend a minimum of six presentations on criteria they choose from highly individual career plans (corporate reputation, word of mouth from former students, etc..) For example, one who wants to work in the video game industry absolutely must do at least one of his internship in the field for references once on the job market as as full time Engineer.
We also consider that these meetings allow students to better understand the market, the areas in which companies work, and the technologies most widely used. Finally, next week, students will receive a booklet with all the offers made available this week. If they missed a presentation, they may still apply.
This event is a specificity of EPITA?
Yes. In general, schools are very active for graduation courses (often pre-recruitment in the IT sector) with forums dedicated or days, but their offers are poorer for intermediate internships built in the curriculum. Here we really innovated both in the original format and the target ofpopulation in their 4th year of their 5-year program. In addition, we conducted 130 CV workshops (in French or English) last week to allow our Engineering Students to be successful in their research.
EPITA Students' International Mobility 2012
Each year, EPITA sends a great part of its students abroad. As we have been pursuing a policy of internationalization for several years, the number of students studying abroad for a semester keeps growing.
This year, a total of 304 EPITA's students went abroad for an academic experience or to follow an internship. We are also developing the number of dual degree programs to offer our graduates with possibility of getting a Master in parallel of their Engineering Degree.
To read our complete 2012 International Mobility Report, consult the PDF document below:
EPITA International Mobility 2012.pdf
Webshell to Silicon Valley
As part of an innovation competition, three EPITA students will travel to California, from June 2 to 8 in order to develop their plans for new computer language. Interview with Thibaud Arnault (EPITA Class of 2012), the project leader.
Thibaud Arnault, Arnaud Richard & Tibor Vass, three students in their fifth year of the major Media and Information Technology (MTI) and Mehdi Medjaoui (INSA Lyon) will travel to Silicon Valley early June. After winning second prize in Innovact Campus Awards, Webshell was selected to join the French Tech Tour, which consists of a series of appointments with companies in Silicon Valley and coaching while in the US by Ubifrance, San Francisco.
Webshell is an open innovation and communication project (PLIC). It is the development of a new computer language facilitating the development of web and mobile applications from existing APIs (application programming interface allowing interaction programs with each other). At stake: time saving and ease of implementation!
Why has your project been rewarded?
We have an innovative patented technology, a complementary team, a recognition by a public incubator and a good educational presentation in which we were able to understand both the technological and commercial issues and show our motivation to create our company. After deliberation, the jury found that our project was worthy of winning amongst the 150 submissions and we thank them. These awards mean to us a real appreciation and provide further motivation: we could see the other projects that competed for Innovact Campus Awards, many were very innovative and high levels. Finally, the French Tech Tour allows us to take our first steps into the Silicon Valley.
What is Webshell?
The idea is to create a powerful language for querying any Web service in the same manner and to make available the language through a very simple service. In our jargon, we call Web APIs such service. With API, sites or applications can exchange data and modify their respective information. For example, when a social network asks you for permission to share your data with a third party application, it uses the APIs of the social network. It is expensive for a developer today to use more than three API. Nonetheless there are over 5800 different APIs and that number is growing exponentially. So we need a way to standardize them, make them interoperable, easily and quickly find them. We believe in open innovation brought by the mixture of these services. We call such a mix, a mash-up of API. Our project is to address this issue. We want to implement all language API Webshell collaboratively so that developers can easily make mashups. On our platform, everything is done to create a community of developers and allow API providers to easily reach this community.
What assessment and what future does there exist for Webshell?
Today, we are still in private beta and we have already over 150 registered developers on the platform. The early returns are good and the users come back! We do everything we can to deliver the best possible navigation. We will have more returns in the coming weeks. We intend to improve the tools around APIs to become the reference on APIs. We will also organize hackathons with partners to publicize Webshell to more developers. Finally, we intend to be more active on the forums, and various networks. We seek also a passionate community manager. We will export the French technology to Silicon Valley, while continuing to develop partnerships with companies in France.
Discover EPITA's Air Radio
Interview with Quentin Sanglier (EPITA Class of 2013), treasurer of the Association Air Radio.
Air-Radio is the web-radio of the IONIS campus in Kremlin Bicetre. It broadcasts several styles of music from its website and programs, live performances and podcasts on various topics ranging from computer news to commentarie on soccer & rugby games. Its members thrive to continually improve this meeting point for students, both through the media and technically.
Quentin Boar (EPITA Promo 2013), its treasurer, gave us this interview on the association and its projects.
How is life at Air Radio?
The local association, which contains a large amount of computer hardware and sound, is a gathering point among all members, including office, as show hosts. When we find ourselves in the local association, talks about life in school subjects and information are rapidly forming at times to become future subjects. Indeed, each student can be part of the association, they can come and discuss or make a little passionnate address on a theme for our listeners. Air Radio offers a perfect way to express oneselfs and to share knowledge on what might interest other students.
We aim to reach a maximum of listeners and make sure to talk about various topics of interest to reach the largest student base. As we are a public radio Web-accessible by anyone from the site, we intend to promote other organizations and their events. Via the scheduling of "advertising" messages in collaboration with other associations, we offer other students to participate in the life of the radio via broadcasting their jingles and their sponsors.
What skills do you use as part of this association?
Programming is a very useful tool in this association. We have several machines allowing us to work on the shows and especially a server that manages the their distribution. The program intervenes to make our job easier and to automate all that airs on the radio. An intranet allows us to easily manage playlists, replay broadcasts, different musical genres, etc..
Some operations are still done manually (eg broadcasting a specific music genre) but for this to become automatic, it's only a matter of time: just a member of the radio handles the development of the application or script allowing automated functionality.
What are your plans for the association?
Thanks to programming skills acquired during our studies, we plan to automate the radio, and give as much listening time as possible to the listener. During programs, there is a chat available for listeners where they can participate and give their opinion during a live. We would like to give their speech, by attempting communication software on computer (eg Skype), to participate in the program.
Improved management of musical genres is being set up, allowing listeners to know the different time slots during which their favorite artists will be released. In addition, we intend to link a voting system that will allow them to interact much more with us in certain programs.
What was your latest biggest success?
he live program "Beatles vs. Rolling Stones" was undoubtedly the greatest achievement of the semester. We are fortunate to have associates in all genres of music, resulting in a large number of ideas and facilitate the organization of programs of Air-Radio. We intend to organize a special Radiohead soon and various commentaries lives of rugby games, soccer tournaments and even online games! In short, the radio is promising and we are quite confident about its future and the loyalty of our listeners.
Apple's Day 2012
This day dedicated to the Apple universe will take place on the school campus Friday, June 1, from 10:00am to 6:00pm.
Organized by EpiMac, EPITA's Mac student association, the event will alternate lectures and workshops for students and professionals alike.
On the IONIS Campus of Kremlin-Bicetre, this event will offer the opportunity of participating in multiple activities designed to help discover more and more Apple's universe. You will have the opportunity to attend several conferences on various topics, equally addressing the developer , the user and the enthusiast's scopes of interest. There will also be various booths available throughout the campus.
On Apple Day both organizers and partners will be pleased to present their activities and to answer participants questions. Finally, you can sign-up in the afternoon for the training Objective-C. Whether you are learning from scratch or hold advanced knowledge, the trainers will be happy to mentor you.
If you would like more details on this event, or already register, please visit the page devoted to it! To keep up to date on the Apple Day and any events EpiMac, follow the association's progress live on Facebook and Twitter.
At the Heart of Business & Entrepreneurship
Hubert de l'Estoile (EPITA Promo 1994), Secretary General of the MEDEF, talks about his career, his years at school and projects of the employers for the new generations.
Can you trace back your career at the MEDEF?
Previously Director of Information Systems (DSI), I switched to Director of Human Resources (HR) in January 2010 before becoming general secretary in September of that year. Between the first two trades, which can seem so different, there are actually several common characteristics. The two main ones are listening and servicing either users or employees. There is also a strong commitment to the service because in both cases we must find, develop and implement permanent solutions satisfactory to all stakeholders in the interest of the MEDEF. Finally, there is in both cases some technical skilles that require quick learning and daily acquisition of new skills.
I do not have any overlap with the previous HRD who was had left several months prior to my arrival. My first task was to meet first the HR team and later their managers and their teams, to listen and make an inventory of expectations. At the same time, I took charge of employee representatives (DUP and HSC). Then came the definition and formalization of a new HR policy, based on equity, personal and professional development and benchmarking, which resulted in an action plan now being implemented.
How were your years at EPITA determining?
After two years of preparatory course at ESME Sudria, I spent my three years of engineering studies, from 1991 to 1994, EPITA, the "Titian." It is in this building, we called as the "Cruiseship" located Boulevard Hospital, that I discovered the Internet through the exclusive use of email, because at that time the first WWW browser did not yet exist. So I had my first email address in 1992 EPITA! I did not realize the extent of development this new communication technology was going to undergo. We were so few to have an email that it was a challenge to have a penpal and if possible at the other end of the world, the must was a contact in California!
I had taken as an option "System & Networks." We worked a lot on IP networks as NOVELL networks were in their infancy. EPITA had and still has I believe a great advantage: access to machines 24H/7. I was appreciative of the confidence that the school gave its students. This freedom and flexibility of work was really appreciable. In return, the projects were very interesting but laborious and I discovered the joys of nights spent by project team to finalize the developments! This has been very rewarding and eye opening: it is through these experiences that I learned teamwork and understood the solidarity needed for a project to come to its end.
EPITA's teaching was so avant-garde and so professional that it allowed me to be chosen to go on cooperation in Southern Africa in order to implement messaging and networks in commercial services of French embassies in the region.
How can the spirit of entrepreneurship can be fostered into the younger generation?
The MEDEF serves business and the entrepreneurship spirit. Its president, Laurence Parisot, has established a commission dedicated exclusively to entrepreneurship. The commission, chaired by entrepreneur Charles Beigbeder, aims to put entrepreneurship as a third career path. A set of tools and actions are proposed and sponsored by MEDEF to develop entrepreneurship, especially among younger generations. First through the transmission of knowledge required of the company. Two comics were made for junior highschool students: "What is Business?" and "Discovering the Company;" a book entitled "The Company: A Key Player in the Company" was released to the attention of highschool students; the game" Journey to the Company's Heart" was created for college students so that they are capable, in three hours and a half, to better understand the business environment.
Follows a more concrete action, for junior highschool and highschool students, the "mini-business" partnership between MEDEF and the association "Investing in Learning." A mini-company gathers a group of young volunteers around an entrepreneurial project. Supervised by a teacher and a professional advisor, the mini-company operates as a limited company and is develops a product or service for marketing. Once a week, mini-entrepreneurs come together to build their project. These sessions include notions of investment, price or cost, community life and citizen ... Students also have the possibility of donating a portion of their profits to a charitable cause. The mini-company allows to introduce young people - 14 to 20 years - in the economy and more particularly to create their business venture in the future.
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About EPITA
With its inception in 1984, EPITA (Graduate School of Computer Science and Advanced Technologies) is the Engineering School training the best experts who design, develop and improve the future Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The pedagogy of the school focuses on giving students both the fundamentals of Engineering and the highest expertise in the fields of Computer Science and ICT. The International Master's degree delivered by EPITA is accredited by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research as a "Diplôme National de Master".