The FIT (French Institutes of Technology) association brings together 15 institutes born of the PIA (Programme des investissements d’avenir), sharing the same fundamentals in terms of multi-partner public-private research. Within FIT, IRTs (Institutes of Technological Research) and ITEs (Institutes of Energy Transition) strengthen their links and their strengths with the aim of bringing about sovereign, sustainable and resilient technological innovations that accelerate the environmental, digital and societal transitions of our territories.

 

IRT & ITE Forum 2019 – Lille 

 

FIT brings together the 8 IRTs :  B<>COM, BIOASTER, JULES VERNE, M2P, NANOELEC, RAILENIUM, SAINT EXUPERY & SYSTEMX – and from April 2020, the 7 ITE :  EFFICACITY, FRANCE ENERGIES MARINES, INES.2S, IPVF, NOBATEK/INEF4, SUPERGRID INSTITUTE &VEDECOM.

 

Their business: public-private partnership technology research

Approved by the State as part of the investments for the future, the IRT and ITE are tools of excellence. Their mission is to develop collaborations between public research and companies around common technological research challenges in order to provide concrete and economically robust answers to industrial and energy transitions.

 

Existing for 9 and 7 years respectively, they are recognised as operational and agile tools at the service of French industrial, economic and societal renewal. With public and private funding, they carry out projects and research programmes focused on market needs.

 

The IRTs cover a dozen key themes: digital technologies, microbiology, manufacturing and manufacturing technologies, materials, metallurgy and processes, nanoelectronics, railway systems, aeronautics, space, embedded systems and digital systems engineering.

 

On the ITE side, the themes addressed are marine renewable energies, photovoltaic energy, energy efficiency in cities, sustainable construction, high and very high voltage electrical networks, and land transport and ecomobility.

 

In these areas, the institutes are removing major scientific and technological barriers and helping to produce innovations in future sectors in which France has considerable assets to be among the world leaders. Many experimental platforms, demonstrators, pilot lines or data sets on pre-industrial or industrial scales have resulted from their R&D work.

 

Inter-institutes initiatives  

As part of FIT’s actions to promote exchanges between members and to coordinate actions to optimise their operating efficiency, several inter-institute programmes have been set up.

 

In this respect, the IRT Jules Verne is actively involved in 3 inter-IRT initiatives:

 

  • “Additive Manufacturing”, to optimise IRT research in the field of additive manufacturing,
  • “EngageAI” to accelerate the transfer of skills between academic research and industry in the field of artificial intelligence.
  • “Thermoplastic Composite Materials”, to develop the French sector and enable manufacturers to innovate, maintain their technological lead and prepare the aircraft of tomorrow.

 

More information on the association’s website