Ecole Centrale Paris (ECP)

École Centrale Paris (French pronunciation: [ekɔl sɑ̃tʁal paʁi], ECP; also known as École Centrale or Centrale) was a French grande école in engineering and science. It was also known by its official name École Centrale des Arts et Manufactu fficial name École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures. In 2015, École Centrale Paris merged with Supélec to form CentraleSupélec, a constituent college of the University of Paris-Saclay.[2] Founded in 1829, it was among the most prestigious and selective grandes écoles. Rooted in rich entrepreneurial tradition since the industrial revolution era, it served as the cradle for top-level engineers and executives who continue to constitute a major part of the industry leadership in France. Since the 19th century, its model of education for training generalist engineers inspired the establishment of several engineering institutes around the world, such as the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, Faculté polytechnique de Mons in Belgium, as well as other member schools of the Ecole Centrales Group alliance in France, Morocco, China, and India. École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures was founded in 1829 as a private institute by Alphonse Lavallée, a lawyer and a prominent businessman from Nantes, who put forward most of his personal capital into founding the school, together with three top scientists who became its founding associates: Eugène Peclet, Jean-Baptiste Dumas, and Théodore Olivier. Notably, Lavallée was a shareholder of Le Globe, which became in 1831 the official organ of the Saint-Simonian movement. The founding vision of École Centrale was to train multidisciplinary engineers who will become the first "doctors of factories and mills" of the then-emerging industrial sector in France, at a time when most of the other engineering schools trained students for public service.[4] As the scientific discoveries in this era were beginning to have a major impact on industrial development in Europe, a new breed of engineers with a broad and rigorous knowledge of sciences and mathematics were needed in order for France to develop its industry and consequently compete amongst the world's superpowers. The school was initially located in various premises in Paris, including Hotel Salé (which now hosts the Picasso Museum) and buildings which now belong to Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. Lavallée served as the first president of École Centrale. In 1857, Lavallée transferred the ownership of the school to the French state in order to ensure its sustainability. Under Napoleon's initiative for an imperial university, the school was then temporarily renamed as École Impériale des Arts et Manufactures. In 1862, graduates of the school were awarded accredited graduate diplomas in engineering, with the official academic title of 'ingénieur des arts et manufactures', which was the first of its kind in France. The school was transferred in 1969 to a new campus located in Châtenay-Malabry. The Châtenay-Malabry campus was designed by architect Jean Fayeton [fr], and was inaugurated by President Georges Pompidou, who was accompanied on this occasion by Robert Galley. The school was renamed as École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures. In 2015, the school formed a strategic alliance with Supélec to create CentraleSupélec, which is part of the University of Paris-Saclay. The new campus is located in Gif-sur-Yvette, approximately 20 km from the center of Paris. ...view more