Dokshina Sofia (student of OA-71mn group) from 09/01/2018 till 01/31/2019 besides studying in Kyiv Politechnic institute (automation control of electrotechnical complexes department) had been studying by student exchange program in the Ecole Centrale Nantes (France).

”Studying in the Ecole Centrale Nantes is interesting and active. In particular, there is no clear distinction between lectures and practical classes. The lecturer tells part of the topic for lesson, gives tasks and answers for questions. Due to this, material had been understandable and well absorbed,” – told Sofia about her first impression of her studies.

Sofia studied Industrial Engineering: Agile Factory Management. This specialization is aimed at developing specific competencies dedicated for flexible and reconfigured enterprise management. Fundamental approaches of factory planning and modeling as well as efficiency assessment has been studied there. After completion the course, students acquire skills in modeling production systems, optimizing the strategy of production systems management and applying new methods for assessment. This assessment is based on modeling and optimization and takes into account different types of indicators (environmental, social, economic) associated with maneuverability of factories.

Let’s talk briefly about the key disciplines that were studied.

Enterprise modeling. On this lessons, future professionals learn how to build logical connections between different systems/workers in the enterprise and their functions. This is achieved by studying UML and IDEF software applications; study the logic of logical diagrams’ construction.

Production management. Classes were held at the university IUT de Nantes – Campus La Fleuriaye. During the first classes, an excursion to the university laboratory was conducted. The laboratory develops various robots, makes various spare parts (for example, the basis of a kayak), their projects annually take part in state competitions.

Optimization methods. In this course the main goals of optimization are considered, the mathematical apparatus used in optimization, problems of linear optimization, the general review of problems of nonlinear optimization is made. In practice, much attention has been paid to solving linear optimization problems using the Excel Solver application, as well as using the Python programming language.

Simulation. In this discipline the modeling of the work process at the enterprise in the software application Flexim was studied. In particular, Sofia worked on modeling a chocolate egg factory.

Below you can see some photos from studying at the Ecole Centrale Nantes, which Sofia shared.

Differences in studying

It should be noted that the method of teaching at the Ecole Centrale Nantes is somewhat different from teaching at the KPI named after Igor Sikorsky. In particular, the time allotted for classes is two hours, not one and a half. Subjects are not studied together for the whole semester but go in a certain sequence. But each subsequent subject has a clear connection with the previous one. The method of assessment is also slightly different, in addition to the usual assessments: A, B, C, there are intermediate, for example: A +, A, A-.