The abandonment of the Astrid project marks a turning point for France’s nuclear industry. The planned nuclear reactor was supposed to be “safer, more efficient and more sustainable”, but therefore required significant funding. Stéphanie Tillement, a researcher at IMT Atlantique, has studied how Fukushima impacted the nuclear industry. Her work has focused in particular on the rationale for abandoning the …

We know how to use wind to produce electricity, but large three-bladed turbines do not have their place in urban environments. The start-up Unéole has therefore developed a wind turbine that is suitable for cities, as well as other environments. It also offers a customized assessment of the most efficient energy mix. Clovis Marchetti, a research engineer at Unéole, explains …

Producing high-quality raw materials from waste is contingent on effective sorting. Plastics from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) are no exception. To help solve this problem, researchers at IMT Mines Alès have developed a selective automation algorithm designed for these plastics. It can be integrated in new industrial-scale sorting machines.   How will your coffee maker be reincarnated after …

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 …

Measuring and quantifying have informed Véronique Bellon-Maurel’s entire scientific career. A pioneer in near infrared spectroscopy, the researcher’s work has ranged from analyzing fruit to digital agriculture. Over the course of her fundamental research, Véronique Bellon-Maurel has contributed to the optimization of many industrial processes. She is now the Director of #DigitAg, a multi-partner Convergence Lab, and is the winner …

Editorial.   Tomorrow’s medicine will be at least 4P: personalized, preventive, predictive, participative. ‘At least,’ because some would readily add “precise,” “proof” (evidence-based), “pathway-based” etc. Beyond naming this type of medicine and determining the correct number of Ps, medicine is clearly undergoing a profound change. A transformation supported in part by engineering, which is bringing major innovations to the healthcare …

A researcher in Health Engineering at Mines Saint-Étienne, Jérémie Pourchez, and his colleagues at the Saint-Étienne University Hospital, have developed an ex vivo model of lungs to help improve medical aerosol therapy devices. An advantage of this technology is that scientists can study inhalation therapy whilst limiting the amount of animal testing that they use.   This article is part …

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 …

Over the past 5 years, major digital technology stakeholders have boosted the data broker business. These middlemen collect and combine masses of traces that consumers leave online. They then offer them to the companies of their choice in exchange for income. Above all, they use this capital to manipulate markets around the world. These new powerful stakeholders are greatly misunderstood. …