Specialized Master in Bioresource Composites: Innovation and Eco-design

Objectives & Presentation

The Specialized Master’s Degree® Bioresource Composites: Innovation and Eco-design trains future high-level executives in the field of innovative composite materials that take into account the challenges of sustainable development.

This level I qualification is accredited as a Specialized Master’s degree® by the Conférence des Grandes Écoles (CGE). All lessons are given in English.

The training takes place over 12 months: 6 months of teaching and 6 months of internship in a company as part of a professional dissertation.

In a context of rapid climatic and technological changes, this Specialized Master’s degree® trains project leaders capable of managing innovation and eco-design projects for products/processes made from renewable resources.

Background

Many industrial sectors use composite materials that meet a number of technical, economic, ergonomic and aesthetic performance requirements.

Sustainable development issues place bioresource materials as resources of the future for the development of the composites of tomorrow.

These new composites made from renewable plant resources can be developed to fulfill the needs of manufacturers seeking innovative solutions for their own products and to make them sustainable.

Targeted skills

This Specialized Master’s degree® is based on an interdisciplinary program supported by an eco-innovation approach. At the end of the training, graduates will be able to:

• Innovate and eco-design materials/products/services from renewable resources.
• Develop and optimize products or process solutions by integrating sustainable development with the opportunities offered by new technologies.
• Lead and manage a project in a collaborative and open manner.
• Manage an interdisciplinary approach and foster the emergence of interdisciplinarity.
• Drive an innovation approach.
• Conduct an eco-design approach using design and creativity tools and methods.
• Take into account regulatory obligations, particularly environmental and societal requirements.
• Understand knowledge (collection, modeling, presenting, expert knowledge) in order to transfer it to his/her activity.
• Provide material solutions to different sectors of activity, understanding their specific needs.

Program

The course is divided into thematic periods with transversal and theoretical contributions according to the life cycle analysis (LCA) approach.

Bioresource materials, including wood and its derivatives, together with the workshops and laboratories, make it possible to design and build prototypes within the training itself.

The use of group project work promotes learning by doing, interdisciplinary and the emergence of eco-innovation.

The lessons are given entirely in English.

The 12-month course is programmed as follows:

• January to June : courses at ESB and the Nantes Atlantique School of Design (Campus de la Chantrerie in Nantes).
• June to November : an internship in a company (20 weeks minimum) as part of a professional dissertation.

Unit 1 - Sectors & resources (2 ECTS)

• Introduction to the circular economy and eco-design cycle.
• The global vision of bioresources for composites: production and characteristics.
• Presentation of the sectors of interest: transport, packaging, furniture, fitting, construction.
• Company visits.

Unit 2 - Bioresource materials and process (4 ECTS)

• Understand the techniques and processes of composite manufacturing.
• Define the role and influence of Physico-chemical and mechanical parameters of composites in product applications.
• Understanding the constituent materials of bioresource composites.

Unit 3 - Innovation, design and professional project (4 ECTS)

• What are innovation and an innovative approach?
• What are design and related concepts?
• Build an initial vision of your future career path in relation to eco-innovation.

Unit 4 - Transport (8 ECTS)

• Understand the issues related to minimizing weight in the transport sector.
• Learn different processes for transforming composites.
• Transferable skills: collaborative innovation and project management.

Unit 5 - Packaging (8 ECTS)

• Understand the issues related to the aging of materials in the packaging sector (and luxury industries).
• Take into account the principles of degradation and recycling.
• Transferable skills: incremental innovation and knowledge engineering.

Unit 6 - Preparation for the professional thesis (2 ECTS)

• Define the subject and context of the mission to be carried out for the professional dissertation.
• Establish a network of contacts linked to your future career.

Unit 7 - Furniture and fittings (8 ECTS)

• Understand the problems of bioresource composites in furniture and fittings (Sports and leisure).
• Imagine finishing solutions for these products.
• Transferable skills: breakthrough innovation (design thinking, optimization) and design to cost.

Unit 8 - Construction and external uses (8 ECTS)

• Discover the composites of the construction industry, in particular, composites based on wood or natural fibers.
• Imagine the place, nature, possible developments and applications for bioressource composites.
• Transferable skills: disruptive innovation (C-K theory) and societal transition.

Unit 9 - Business innovation (1 ECTS)

• Finalize the specifications of the mission and objectives that meet the expectations of the course and the partner company.
• Integrate innovation and eco-design objectives into your company’s project based on bioresource composites.

Unit 10 - Professional thesis (30 ECTS)

The professional thesis is intended to validate the learner’s knowledge in the field of eco-innovative project management, whether industrial or academic.

After understanding the subject and the environment, the learner will have to collect and analyze the information necessary to fulfill the project.

The learner will then develop and validate the proposed solutions in all their aspects: materials, technical, environmental and economic.

The learner will quantify and plan the implementation of his proposals.

In-Company Period

A minimum 20-week internship takes place between June and November in a company in the sectors covered by the training. It can also take place in an R&D laboratory.

The learner is entrusted with a global mission through an industrial project that includes:

• An innovation and eco-design approach via project management.
• Research on new materials and their applications.
• The financial study: project profitability, return on investment.

The learner will have a large degree of freedom in the management and implementation of their project in order to ensure that it is the learner who is driving the project.

Our vision

Exploring, designing, prototyping, and testing are at the heart of our training approach. The implementation of projects, along with collaborative and interdisciplinary work combined with scale-1 experimentation, are unique features of our science and technology school which fosters a culture and spirit of ‘makers’.

We are convinced that the planet’s resources provide endless opportunities to protect itself and help build a sustainable future. So ESB has made this vision part of its identity, to train future engineers and technicians in the field of wood and biosourced materials.

Our vocation: Explore nature, create a sustainable future

ESB was founded in 1934 at the initiative of the French Ministries of Agriculture, National Education and Industry and is one of the French leading higher education institutions specialized in wood sciences en technologies. Committed to innovating with wood and biosourced materials, the school has broadened this vision to each of its areas of expertise: training, research, and R&D engineering at the service of companies.

In a context of environmental challenges, wood and biosourced materials are up-and-coming resources to invent a sustainable future. Natural and renewable, these plant-based materials are allies of the circular economy.

Educational programs and degrees

ESB is a nonlucrative private higher education and research institution, recognized and supported by academic and scientific authorities. The school is involved in various networks and is known across France and internationally.

We train engineers and technicians in wood sciences and bio-sourced materials: BTS (vocational training certificate), Bachelor’s, Professional Bachelor’s Degree, Master Engineering Degree, Specialised Master’s, Ph.D.

International relations: Opening up to the world

Open to the world, ESB diversifies and expands its international identity and opening by welcoming students from all over the world and providing opportunities for all to study abroad thanks to the various partnerships it has established over the last 20 years.

The international dimension is fundamental in training and projects, enabling the students to acquire technical, linguistic and intercultural skills.

Nantes: A European innovative Metropolis

Recognized as the green capital in 2013 and the capital of innovation in 2019, Nantes is a city where it is pleasant to study, to blossom and to create.

Nantes hold plenty of cultural and sporting events. The region also has a dynamic job market with great opportunities for young graduates.

ESB is ideally located in the heart of the green campus of the Chantrerie, between urban abundance and quiet parks.