Composite materials continue to entice researchers and are increasingly being used in transport structures and buildings. Their qualities are stunning, and they are considered to be indispensable in addressing the environmental challenges at hand: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, creating stronger and more durable building structures, etc. How are these materials designed? What makes them so promising? Sylvain Drapier, a researcher …

The Destiny project proposes a new process to manufacture parts for the railway and aeronautical industries. It uses a thermoplastic resin, which enables the materials to be recycled while limiting the pollution associated with manufacturing them.      It is increasingly critical to be able to recycle products so as to lower the environmental cost of their production. The composite …

At this beginning of the year 2020, I’MTech takes a look back at 10 of the most noteworthy articles from the past year. What scientific topics made headlines at the close of the 2010s and the dawn of the 2020s? A look at this pivotal year, in which unsurprisingly, AI and the environment feature prominently… but not exclusively!   #1 …

Two teams from IMT Atlantique and Mines Saint-Étienne have developed an autonomous contact lens which is powered by an integrated flexible micro-battery. This invention is a world first that opens new health prospects, whilst also opening the door for scientists to develop other human-machine interfaces.   Human augmentation, a field of research that aims to enhance human abilities through technological …

The decade-long ACCUM project carried out by SNCF, Stratiforme Industries, the Valenciennes Railway Testing Center and IMT Lille Douai has led to the development of a new catenary cantilever system for railways. This advance represents a major change in this field, where equipment has seen little change over the past 50 years.   When asked to draw a train on …

There has been a significant revolution in the world of materials as 3D printing has proved its potential for innovation. Now it must be put into practice. While 3D printers are increasingly present in prototyping workshops, they have been slow to replace the processes traditionally used in the plastics industry. This is because these technologies are too restrictive, in terms …

At the beginning of 2018, IMT Lille Douai unveiled an additive manufacturing platform dedicated to manufacturing large-scale parts: LASCALA. This equipment is a worldwide innovation.  Its capacity to use any type of polymer even enables it to print 3D composite parts measuring several meters. The scientific challenge has been successfully met and has opened up a whole new realm of possibilities for …

Arago is a technology platform specializing in applied optics, based at IMT Atlantique’s Brest campus. It provides scientific services and a technical environment for manufacturers in the optics and vision sectors. It has unique expertise in the field of liquid crystals, micro-optics and health.   Are you in the industrial sector or a small business wanting to experiment with a …

As required by environmental transition, materials of the future must be “greener”. Bioplastics in particular have become a main focus of attention, and are often presented as the solution to the pollution caused by the plastics we use every day, which can take hundreds of years to decompose. Patricia Krawczak, a researcher at Mines Douai, studies these new polymers. Yet …

IMT Nord Europe | Polymer, CompositeMaterials, BiobasedMaterials, NumericalSimulation, AdvancedManufacturing