Some 225 years after the duke of La Rochefoucauld, Arts et Métiers Paristech Managing Director Jean-Paul Hautier is setting out to complete his first official visit to the New World in April, 2008. In the United States, the Arts et Métiers brand (just like most of the other French «Grandes Ecoles») does not exist. It is yet to build. With a few rare exceptions, we are not known, and we are not counted.
In parallel, the Arts et Métiers community residing in the United States has never been properly surveyed. It exists, it is growing in numbers and influence, and it has grown accustomed to the cultural tradition that alumni have of supporting their Alma Mater. But it is spread across the continent. It must be unified, and reconnected to the school in a more structured manner.