 | |
| Motto | Leader, Entrepreneur, Innovateur |
|---|---|
| Type | Public,Grand établissement |
| Active | 1829–2015 |
| President | Hervé Biausser |
| Postgraduates | 2,505 (1,789 engineer candidates)[1] |
| 223 | |
| Location | , France |
| Affiliations | University of Paris-Saclay,Centrale Graduate School,TIME,CESAER,UniverSud Paris |
| Website | www |
 | |
École Centrale Paris (French pronunciation:[ekɔlsɑ̃tʁalpaʁi],ECP; also known asÉcole Centrale orCentrale) was a Frenchgrande école in engineering and science. It was also known by its official nameÉcole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures. In 2015,École Centrale Paris merged withSupélec to formCentraleSupélec, a constituent college of theUniversity of Paris-Saclay.[2]
Founded in 1829, it was among the most prestigious and selective grandes écoles. Rooted in rich entrepreneurial tradition since the industrial revolution era, it served as the cradle for top-level engineers and executives who continue to constitute a major part of the industry leadership in France. Since the 19th century, its model of education for training generalist engineers inspired the establishment of several engineering institutes around the world, such as theÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland,Faculté polytechnique de Mons in Belgium, as well as other member schools of theEcole Centrales Group alliance in France, Morocco, China, and India.[3]
"Between 1832 and 1870, theCentral School of Arts and Manufactures produced 3,000 engineers, and served as a model for most of the industrialized countries."
— Mathias, Peter;Postan, Michael (1978).The Cambridge Economic History of Europe. Cambridge university press. p. 313.ISBN 9780521215909.
École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures was founded in 1829 as a private institute byAlphonse Lavallée, a lawyer and a prominent businessman from Nantes, who put forward most of his personal capital into founding the school, together with three top scientists who became its founding associates:Eugène Peclet,Jean-Baptiste Dumas, andThéodore Olivier. Notably, Lavallée was a shareholder ofLe Globe, which became in 1831 the official organ of theSaint-Simonian movement.
The founding vision of École Centrale was to train multidisciplinary engineers who will become the first"doctors of factories and mills" of the then-emerging industrial sector in France, at a time when most of the other engineering schools trained students for public service.[4] As the scientific discoveries in this era were beginning to have a major impact on industrial development in Europe, a new breed of engineers with a broad and rigorous knowledge of sciences and mathematics were needed in order for France to develop its industry and consequently compete amongst the world's superpowers.
The school was initially located in various premises in Paris, including Hotel Salé (which now hosts thePicasso Museum) and buildings which now belong toConservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. Lavallée served as the first president of École Centrale.
In 1857, Lavallée transferred the ownership of the school to the French state in order to ensure its sustainability. Under Napoleon's initiative for an imperial university, the school was then temporarily renamed asÉcole Impériale des Arts et Manufactures.
In 1862, graduates of the school were awarded accredited graduate diplomas in engineering, with the official academic title of 'ingénieur des arts et manufactures', which was the first of its kind in France.
The school was transferred in 1969 to a new campus located inChâtenay-Malabry. The Châtenay-Malabry campus was designed by architectJean Fayeton [fr], and was inaugurated by PresidentGeorges Pompidou, who was accompanied on this occasion byRobert Galley. The school was renamed as École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures.
In 2015, the school formed a strategic alliance withSupélec to createCentraleSupélec, which is part of theUniversity of Paris-Saclay. The new campus is located inGif-sur-Yvette, approximately 20 km from the center of Paris.
École Centrale Paris was one of theCentrale Graduate Schools associated as theGroupe Centrale network with its sister institutes (Lille,Lyon,Marseille,Nantes,Beijing,Hyderabad (withMahindra Group) and Casablanca).
Since 1837, the school had established several international partnerships (double degrees, exchanges, research collaboration) with the world's leading universities, such asCalifornia Institute of Technology,University of Cambridge,ETH Zurich,Georgia Institute of Technology,Harvard University,Indian Institutes of Technology,KAIST,Princeton University,Universidad Politécnica de Madrid,Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Politecnico di Milano,National University of Singapore,Stanford University,University of Toronto,Tsinghua University,TU Delft andTechnische Universität München. It was a founding member of the TIME (Top Industrial Managers for Europe) network among top engineering schools in Europe, and also a member of theUniverSud Paris and theCESAER association of European engineering schools.[5]
Initially located in theHôtel de Juigné (nowHôtel Salé and home to theMusée Picasso), the main campus of the school was transferred torue Montgolfier in 1884, where it stayed until 1969. Its current location neighbours theParc de Sceaux.
Former location of theÉcole Centrale, rue Montgolfier in Paris (3rdarrondissement):
The school is now located atChâtenay-Malabry,Hauts-de-Seine, a southern suburb of Paris (in theÎle-de-France region), next to theParc deSceaux and itsChâteau de Sceaux. Within the main campus at Châtenay Malabry, ECP hosts eight laboratories:
Most of the 2000 students atÉcole Centrale Paris stay in dedicated on-campus student residences, which is located near the research labs and easily accessible via public transport.
Following the merger of the school withSupelec, now formingCentraleSupelec, the progressive move of the campus has started fromChatenay-Malabry toGif-sur-Yvette.
Most French students who were admitted toÉcole Centrale Paris had completed 2 to 3 years of post high school education in sciences through theclasses préparatoires orprépas, which corresponds tofreshman andsophomore years at US universities. Theclasses préparatoires is itself a selective and academically intensive program that admits less than top 10% of high school graduates in France each year.[14] The entrance examination to thegrandes écoles includingÉcole Centrale Paris is taken by students only at the end of their second year inprépas (Mathématiques spéciales).
For its flagship degree program leading to the French engineer's degree (Diplôme d'ingénieur), in 2016 for instance,École Centrale Paris recruited among the top 4% candidates fromprépas for a quota of about 400 students, in addition to some 50 international students from top foreign universities after an equivalently selective process.[15]
International students are first selected internally by their respective home universities on the basis of academic performance (within top 10% GPA) and receive additional training in various subjects including mathematics, sciences, computing, and French language for at least 1–2 years on top of their undergraduate degree program requirements. International students then apply and compete for admission to each grande école via written and oral examinations, and the application must include 2 referrals by professors, a record of extracurricular achievements, internship or research/project experiences, and a motivation letter.
Lastly, a small number of places for the engineer degree program is reserved for French university graduates who have excelled in a relevant 3-year bachelor's degree program.
The general engineering program at Centrale was multidisciplinary and typically lasted between 3 and 4 years. The curriculum was similar to those offered at other general engineering schools(écoles d'ingénieurs généralistes). All courses were taught in either French or English.
During the first year (Tronc Commun, orCommon Core), students were required to study several subjects in science (mathematics, quantum physics, biology...), engineering (continuum mechanics, heat transfer, algorithms, programming...), as well as social sciences (economics, management, foreign languages...). In the second year, students were given the option to choose elective courses but with heavy emphasis in science nevertheless. The first two years were also used to train students in various research, startup and industry projects.In the third year, students could choose to major (specialize) in a particular field depending on their academic and professional interests. Upon graduation, students received the degree ofDiplôme d'Ingénieur (equivalent toMaster of Science) along with the title ofIngénieur diplômé, which was more commonly calledIngénieurcentralien.
The school offered a broad range of specialized master's programmes in science and engineering (one-year or two-year programs).[16]
It also offered various PhD programmes for holders of a master's degree. More than 200 doctoral candidates currently work in one of the eight laboratories of the school.
The following is a non-exhaustive list of notable alumni of Ecole Centrale Paris, also commonly known asCentraliens orPistons, which is a reference to thepiston engine as one of the key innovations that powered the FrenchIndustrial Revolution.
Name (Year of graduation):
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
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