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Published: 17 July 2019

5th of August, 2019, is International Exchange Day! Previously J1 Day (J1 is a type of visa, interns must get to be able to work in the US), International Exchange Day established in 2014, is a nationwide celebration of the power of international exchange.

Every year Arts et Métiers young students are coming to the US as J1 interns. They help companies achieve their project goals while gaining professional experience and improving technical skills. Every J1 journey is a special one, full of new discoveries, beautiful moments and memorable events!

As a non-profit, AFAM is advocating for more J1 engineering internships to be offered by American companies as they are truly a life changing experience and at the same time a great way for a company to have a diverse team.

If you want to know about our Shasta internship program, do not hesitate to have a look at our website:

- if you are a company and looking for engineering interns

- if you are an Art et Métiers alumnus/alumna and want to help

- if you are an Art et Métiers student

Celebrate Exchange Day with us and discover our collection of small stories from our former J1 interns!

Quentin, 2009, Tate, Georgia (26 miles from Atlanta)

When I was J1 intern, I worked hard in marble quarry to install quality measurement and kanban workflow. But on the other hand I enjoyed American fun : barbecue and baseball!

On the pictures (courtesy of Quentin): Quentin in 2009 at work in Tate, Basball game Dodgers (LA) vs Braves (Atlanta)

Raphaël, 2011, Houston, Texas

Premier jour à Houston dans le Texas, ville ultime du "public transportation", comprenez : "la voiture individuelle... Originaire de Paris, je venais tout juste d'arriver en tant que stagiaire dans une grande entreprise pétrolière. C'était mon premier jour et évidemment, il fallait s'alimenter ! Je décide donc de prendre mon courage à deux mains pour affronter cette ville où les routes s'empilent les unes au-dessus des autres dans les airs. Me voici donc à l'air libre marchant tranquillement sur le bord de la route. Un premier 4x4 s'arrête et me demande si je ne suis pas perdu... Étrange... Un second s'arrête et me demande si ma voiture est en panne! C'est là que j'ai réalisé que marcher dans Houston est plutôt inhabituel (notamment la zone où j'étais car ne vous méprenez pas il y a bien des zones plus piétonnes) et que le F150 (pick-up largement répandu) est le moyen officiel pour aller faire ces courses!

Deuxième jour je décide d'aller explorer le jardin public où paraît-il les alligators se promènent librement... Après en avoir aperçu un à une trentaine de mètres et m'être bien fait peur j'ai compris que c'était vrai! Cette ville allait être décidément pleine de surprises !

Photo credit: Photo via Texas A&M alumna Makenzie Noland's Facebook page

While riding in Houston's Brazos Bend State Park, a few cyclists were surprised by an alligator. Photo credit: www.bicycling.com

Gauthier, 2018, Rincon, Georgia (20 miles from Savannah, 240 from Atlanta and 110 miles from Charleston)

When I was a J1 intern, I experienced the American way of life from baseball and football game to a shooting range training session.

Photo credit: Savannah WTOC11 television website, picture taken during the event "Ladies. Guns. Ammo"

Martin, 2018, San Francisco, CA

When I was a J1 intern, I worked as an optical engineer with amazing engineers at Uber ATG. They taught me a lot and it led me to build myself a Newtonian telescope 🔭 !!

Photo credit: courtesy of Martin

Uber ATG's new office in SF

Photo credit: www.architecturaldigest.com

Florian, 2019, Northon Shores, Michigan (100 miles from Detroit, MI)

When I was a J1 Intern, I was working in a little town where finding a place to live was not easy. That is why I spent my first nights in the cheapest motel I could find and experienced there the best American motel cliches. At 10 pm, I entered the room, overheated in the Michigan early spring, flaked paint on the wall, dirty carpet on the floor, spots everywhere in the bathroom and mostly, a strong smell of old cigarettes saturating the air.

 

After a few nights there, my boss offered me to stay at his house until I find a place. I was really surprised by this act of kindness, I accepted and the whole family welcomed me so nicely : hunters, they made me taste venison they cooked, S'mores and other American dishes, they advised me for bank, phone, car and helped me in a lot in different ways, with rides, meeting people... I still don't believe how kind they were to me.

 

I left their place after two weeks when I bought a car, before finding a house. In Muskegon you can't go anywhere without a car, thus I became more independent and was able to find a better place to live than a motel. I spent an other week with an AirBnB host and then I finally find a house with a roommate.

 

I was really amazed by how welcoming and helpful Americans are. Everyone at work advised me in any way and that helped me a lot for my installation. The big fear of leaving home in France was reduced a lot after those first weeks surrounded by incredible people.

On the pictures: Bayleys Beach Retreat at Norton Shores and the city of Muskegon

Photo credit: lakem.com and rapidgrowthmedia.com

Thank you to all our alumni who shared these stories! Hopefully, more companies will offer J1 internship opportunities to French engineering students! Happy Exchange Day!

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Published: 17 June 2019

The New-York chapter of Arts et Métiers alumni took part in the annual AAGEF (French Grandes Ecoles Alumni Federation) regatta, cruising to a very honorable 4th place in the New-York harbor.

They then enjoyed a networking cocktail with other Grandes Ecoles alumni at the District, facing the New-York north cove Marina

Thanks to the 5 sailors and our supporters! See you next year for the win!

On the pictures:

The Gadz'arts Navy (Jean-Baptiste Commans, Alexis Garnier, Remi Honoré, Julien Bonnay, Arthur Chevalier)

Last photo: Networking cocktail at the District

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Published: 01 June 2019

Our GadzArts live and work almost in every part of the United States. There are more of them in SF Bay area, Houston area and NYC one. But as Anne-Perrine Avrin (Bo 208) said in her recent spring interview to AFAM: "Wherever I travel, I’m probably never far from a member of the Gadz’Arts family".

Boston has its small gadzarts community too which is led by AFAM Boston representative Adrien Monvoisin (Cl 204)

On the picture: Gadz Happy Hour in Boston on May 9th.

Gadz from left to right: Audren Cloitre, Adrien Monvoisin, Philippe Riand, Charles Le Rouvillois, Alban de Lauzanne

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Published: 29 May 2019

Anne-Perrine Avrin (Bo 208) discovered the United States while pursuing her internship at the University of California, Berkeley. Today Anne-Perrine is sharing some thoughts on her American journey, her professional experience and life in the US.

1. Tell us about your career path and area of expertise today. How did it come about?

While studying at Art et Metiers, I pursued a dual engineering degree with the INSTN (French Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology) at the end of which I undertook an internship in the nuclear engineering department at the University of California, Berkeley. Having a deep interest in areas relating to clean energy development and energy access, I chose, after this internship, to pursue a Master and a PhD in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley in collaboration with Framatome. My thesis focused on breaking the bolt of the cost-efficient deployment and use of nuclear and renewable energies in China. During these 5 years as a student at UC Berkeley, I had the opportunity to work on research topics at Tsinghua university in China and at IIASA in Austria, on corporate strategy and innovation projects at Framatome in Paris and Beijing, and with non-profit entities on energy microgrids in the Democratic republic of Congo and on sustainable, limited-income housing in Oakland, CA. I graduated from my PhD in 2018 and, since then, I’ve been working on energy and tech projects as a management consultant for McKinsey in Washington, DC.

2. What does your daily work routine look like? How does being a Gadz’Arts help you in your everyday tasks and team management?

The work routine in management consulting is very typical and yet never the same. While the job varies quite a lot from one client to another, all projects require structure to provide solid, rigorous solutions, flexibility, as “one size fits all” answers do not apply to consulting, and resilience, as travels and long hours can sometimes be tiring.

At Arts et Metiers, I’ve learnt how to be a teammate, how to use and combine our internal resources and reach out to more experienced people when needed, and to provide help and support to the more junior ones. There, I was taught how being an engineer consists in finding a viable, practical solution to a problem. During my years at the school, achievements such as building my own bookshelves and surf board with the means that were provided, which might sound like little successes but took me weeks of learning and dedication, were key in building a mindset of structure, flexibility and resilience that I use today at work.

Finally, it’s always a nice feeling to know that, wherever I travel, I’m probably never far from a member of the Gadz’Arts family.

3. How did you come to the US- why and when? How is your work life different than in France?

While I have always had a sweet spot for travels, mostly through literature, it’s really my internship in Shenzhen during my second year at Arts et Metiers that convinced me to reiterate an experience abroad. A year after, at the end of the A&M curriculum, I chose to undertake my PFE (six-month internship) in the nuclear engineering department at the University of California, Berkeley. This was made feasible thanks to the intellectual and financial support of the CEA, the Fondation européenne pour les énergies de demain (EDF) and the Institut de France. Little did I know, at the time, that I would spend the rest of my twenties in the US. Yet, the free spirit of innovation that surrounded me as soon as I touched ground in the San Francisco Bay Area convinced me right away that this experience would change me forever.

The collaboration with Framatome during my time at Berkeley gave me a taste of different job environments both in the US and in France. While each industry, each entity, has its own particularities, and I don’t think I can draw nationwide generalities from this experience, I did notice that academic research is much more often backed by for-profit entities in the US than in France, and that the expected business outcome plays a bigger part in the development of industrial processes in the US than in France. Determining which approach is the best depends on the context and objectives of the project at stake.

4. What is the best advice someone ever gave you? Why?

There are two powerful phrases that I’ve tried to use as guides in recent years. The first one is “De l’audace, encore l’audace, toujours de l’audace” (“we must dare, dare, and dare again”) from Danton, which my siblings like to quote. The second one is the definition of “serendipity” (a state-of-mind that allows for repetitively making desirable discoveries not sought after), a word that one of my fellow lab-mates taught me when I arrived in the US and which, surprisingly, has no exact equivalent in many other languages including French.

A lesson that I learnt across the years is to never hesitate to talk to new people and to speak up your mind, as what you say will most often be received positively as long as you have honest intentions.

Thank you again, Anne-Perrine, for sharing your experience and thoughts on life in the USA for Gadz'Arts! AFAM is grateful for your support.

Interview with Anne-Perrine is nicely ending our series of interviews with women Gadz'Arts "Celebrating Spring"

Please read other interviews:

Interview with Mathilde Deveraux (Bo 211)

Interview with Soazig Kaam (Bo 209)

Interview with Fanny Thublier (Li 209)

Interview with Basma Aiouche (Cl 214)