Industrial partners

Academic partners Industrial partners d.community International Network

Meet some of our partners involved in the d.school projects

Since 2009, French and international companies have been active participants in our programs. They collaborate closely in the establishment of project briefs, which aim to meet genuine real-world needs. These links help to develop the capabilities and confidence of innovation students, by offering them the opportunity to make a real and positive impact on the nearby environment. Here are a few testimonials from committed and convinced industrial partners…

If you yourself are also interested in our ME310 Design Innovation program and want to work with our students, you can download the Sponsorship leaflet.

 

  • NESCAFÉ with Isabelle Garric, Nestlé Professional France

    NESCAFÉ with Isabelle Garric, Nestlé Professional France

    A graduate of ESSEC, with 26 years of experience in agri-food marketing and business development at Nestlé, Isabelle Garric is passionate about design in all its forms, and about knowledge sharing. She therefore found developing a project with the d.school to be a tremendous adventure, an opportunity to combine effective techniques of innovation with the pleasure of working with talented students.

  • LABORATOIRE EXPANSCIENCE with Estelle Balut-Creach, Director, Laboratoire Expanscience

    LABORATOIRE EXPANSCIENCE with Estelle Balut-Creach, Director, Laboratoire Expanscience

    A graduate of the Higher School of International Business, Estelle has spent her marketing career in the pharmaceutical and dermo-cosmetic industry, first at ROCHE, then in the ALES (PHYTO & LIERAC) Group, and is now Director of MUSTELA World Operational Marketing at the Corporate Dermo-Cosmetic Department at Laboratoires Expanscience.

  • GDF-SUEZ with Marie-Annabelle Quillon, Project Manager at Gaz de France

    « The discovery of d.thinking, and particularly its application to a business services problem, proved to be a powerful way of leveraging lasting competitive advantage. The introduction of this discipline into our businesses, our modes of thought, organisation and perception of the market, has disrupted our business habits and taken us out of our comfort zones and conventional frameworks, shifting our focus first to the human dimension. It is a new vision of our industrial activities, our environments, a new perspective for profitable business development and strategic leadership. »

    GDF-SUEZ with Marie-Annabelle Quillon, Project Manager at Gaz de France

    Marie-Annabelle Quillon discovered design thinking with a team of students on the ME310 program, who worked on her brief over the year 2011-2012: "The discovery of d.thinking and in particular its application to a business problem in the services sector, proved to be a powerful source of sustainable competitive advantage."

  • THALES OPTRONIQUE with Gérard Berginc, chief scientist - manager of advanced research and technology

    « The project went beyond out expectations. I didn’t think they would go that far and produce a functional prototype. It’s amazing to see that they answered all of our requirements that fast. The Design Thinking methodology has been applied with great success and has been very useful. The firefighters feedback proved it. »

    THALES OPTRONIQUE with Gérard Berginc, chief scientist - manager of advanced research and technology

    Gérard Berginc involved himself a lot by the camera project for firefighters. With a small team from Thales Optronique, he brought great support to the ME310 students throughout the year. He was very satisfied by the results at the end of the year : "The project went beyond out expectations. I didn't think they would go that far and produce a functional prototype."

  • LAPEYRE with Jean-Philippe Arnoux, head of marketing Lapeyre - Saint Gobain

    Jean-Philippe put immense commitment into the bathroom project for the elderly, bringing great enthusiasm and all his expertise to the task. Despite his experience as marketing director in group, he has no hesitation in recognising that he learned a great deal from his year with the ME310 students.

    « Us, marketing skilled professionals, have learned every single day. We’ve learned all about Design Thinking and realized we never listen enough to what the final user has to say. Ethnographic research is key and it allowed me to show my team that it was more efficient to take in account those researches that market studies. »

    LAPEYRE with Jean-Philippe Arnoux, head of marketing Lapeyre - Saint Gobain

    Jean-Philippe put immense commitment into the bathroom project for the elderly, bringing great enthusiasm and all his expertise to the task. Despite his experience as marketing director in group, he has no hesitation in recognising that he learned a great deal from his year with the ME310 students.

  • VALEO with Julien Moizard, project manager

    Julien Moizard has been supervising the project with ME310 students from September 2013 to July 2014. The group – one designer from Strate College, one engineer from École Normale Supérieure and two Colombian industrials engineers – was working on a subject related to the driving experience in traffic jams.

    « Today, we’re seeking to implement the Design Thinking methods within Valeo because today our development cycles are simply too long. Thanks to this methodology, we can test concepts earlier with final users. ME310 students were able to come up with unexpected results and we’re now continuing the project inside Valeo. »

    VALEO with Julien Moizard, project manager

    Julien Moizard supported a multidisciplinary team of 4 ME310 students on the project with his company Valeo. This is the feedback he gave at the end of the year: "We want to adopt a Design Thinking approach at Valeo, because at present the development cycles are too long. Using this method, we will be able to test the concept earlier with end users.”

  • SNCF TRANSILIEN with Sabine Marchand, head of products, accessibility department

    SNCF TRANSILIEN with Sabine Marchand, head of products, accessibility department

    The user experience for people with reduced mobility who use the Transilien is a crucial problem for SNCF’s accessibility department. Six students worked on this topic, because their point of view brought an outside and novel perspectives to a team that is continually working in that environment. That is what persuaded Sabine Marchand to work with the d.school.

  • DOLCE GUSTO with Anne Roche, Brand Manager, Dolce Gusto

    DOLCE GUSTO with Anne Roche, Brand Manager, Dolce Gusto

    The project was undertaken at the request of Nestlé, which was having difficulty reaching the 18-25 age group, which is often more attracted by soft drinks and energy drinks than by coffee: “This project was a great opportunity for us. The students used a method that was new to us, primarily based on user observations.”

  • SAINT-GOBIN with Pauline Lavagne d'Ortigue, Deputy Director of Research, Saint-Gobain

    SAINT-GOBIN with Pauline Lavagne d'Ortigue, Deputy Director of Research, Saint-Gobain

    Pauline Lavagne joined forces with Jean-Philippe Arnoux on a ME310 Project around a bathroom designed for seniors. “ One of the great strengths of the ME310 program is to teach the Design Thinking method and innovation through design to students who are not necessarily designers. They are extremely well supported by the d.school and École des Ponts team."

  • HEALTH EXECUTIVE with Marie-Antoinette Rennesson, health executive

    HEALTH EXECUTIVE with Marie-Antoinette Rennesson, health executive

    Marie-Antoinette Rennesson works at the Favier Foundation, a public health institution that supports elderly people with different degrees of autonomy. Mme Rennesson supported several student teams at the d.school, in particular an Innovacteurs team which designed a mobility trail. “I didn’t imagine that the students would be able to design a trail of such quality.”