A key player in research, innovation and technology transfer

Original and flexible partnerships programs to facilitate industrial research  

With more than 10 years of experience in setting up Chairs, IMT Atlantique uses this tool in response to the strategic challenges of its various partners to develop innovative research and/or teaching themes on a national and international level and also to support societal transformation.

IMT Atlantique has three types of Chairs:

  • the industrial chair (the oldest) which brings together the school and at least one industrial partner such as SMEs/SMIs  and large companies in order to build together projects in an innovative and competitive way. The industry is providing financing commensurate with the stakes involved over time. These may be teaching and/or research chairs,
  • the partnership chair, with industrial partners but also local authorities and institutional partners who contribute financially and/or human resources,
  • the academic chair at the international level, created around research projects led by IMT Atlantique and a national research institute.

10 industrial chairs in research and/or teaching development

  • STORAGE research and teaching chair (2009 to 2019) on the storage of radioactive waste with EDF, ANDRA and AREVA as partners.
  • RESOH (research in Human Organization Security Research) - Since 2012 with IRSN, AREVA and the Naval Group. Chair focused on the safety management of high-risk industrial sites with two research and teaching themes: inter-organizational relations and the consideration of safety in all constraints and management systems.
  • Cyber CNI is a research and teaching chair (2015-2019) in Cybersecurity of Critical Infrastructure. It brings together industrial partners such as Orange, Airbus Défense, BNP Paribas, Société Générale, EDF, Amossys, Nokia and La Poste and partners from higher education institutions such as Telecom ParisTech and Telecom SudParis.
  • C2M is a research chair (2015 to 2020) on Characterization, Modeling, Control of exposure to electromagnetic waves with Orange and Telecom ParisTech as partners.
  • Cybernavale is a research chair (2014 to 2020) in the field of cyber defence of naval systems with the Naval School, Naval Group and Thales as partners.
  • DAHER or Research Chair Multi-physical modelling of mechanical/thermal couplings and irradiation in materials (2010 to 2017). This Chair deals with issues common to the aeronautical and nuclear industries related to product design and the stability of special processes.
  • Pracom: Since 2006, it has been an advanced research chair in communications bringing together more than a dozen companies, the main one being Orange. The objective and mission is to contribute to the development of future multimedia services.
  • RITE is a research chair (2016 to 2018) on Emerging Technology Risk: from technological management to social regulation, with the Pays de la Loire region as a partner.
  • SmartGRID is a research chair (2013 to 2017) in energy networks: PLC technology and smart meters for Smart Grids with Texas Instrument and Itron as industrial partners.
  • MERITE is a teaching chair aimed at restoring the motivation for science, technology and industrial culture to the youngest students. The MERITE Chair is supported financially by ASSYSTEM and 7 partners in higher education.

1 partnership chair to support the societal transformation of the Pays de la Loire territory

  • TES (Transition Energy and Society) is a partnership chair (first period from 2015 to 2018) whose objective is to foster the emergence of local collective dynamics around energy and societal issues with 13 industrial and institutional partners including ENEDIS, SYDEV and local authorities.

2 academic chair to support the development of research

  • Medical Imaging Chair for Interventional Therapy - INSERM is a Chair launched in 2015 that contributes internationally to research activities in the field of health and medicine of the future. The Chair develops around the modelisation of body movements and their interactions, with the aim of developing a personalised approach for patients.
  • Software engineering and distributed systems - INRIA

1 teaching chair

  • The ArchOps Chair, for Architecture, Deployment and Administration of Agile IT Infrastructures, is a teaching chair at IMT Atlantique, in partnership with Kelio.

4 joint laboratories

  • SEPEMED (SEcurity & Processing of Externalized MEdical image Data) - the protection of health data with MEDECOM SMEs
  • ATOL (Aeronautics Technico-Operational Laboraty): Since 2005, it is a joint laboratory dedicated mainly to the prototyping of Human Machine Interface with as partners the Naval School, Thalès Systèmes Aéroportés and Thales Underwater Systems.
  • TransOp (Optimisation engineering engineering operational planning of resources in passenger transport) with EURODECISION and the start-up Cosling of the IMT Atlantique incubator.
  • LATERAL (Labsticc Thales researchalliance on Smart On-board Sensor) with active 3D Thales antennas for the new generations of RF auto-directors based on new additive technologies.

Control of the innovation process, from detection to industrial transfer

As part of its mission to contribute to economic development, IMT Atlantique, which has been awarded the Institut Carnot label for the quality of its partnership research, protects innovations from its laboratories (patents, software and brands) before transferring them to the local, national and even international industrial sector. All methods of transfer are considered: major groups, start-ups, standardization committees. Over recent years, the institute has strongly encouraged validation through spin-offs (creation of enterprises springing out research) through its 3 incubators located on the Brest, Nantes and Rennes campuses.

Today, the institute holds 73 patent families. The school's relevant scientific fields are those currently showing strong industrial interest:

  • Subatomic physics,
  • Process engineering,
  • Visual assistive and 3D optical technology,
  • Cyber security tools,
  • Health technology and services,
  • Internet of things services.

In 2011, the institute also signed a patent Factory agreement with France Brevet in the area of 5G on modulations and antennae.

A major Incubator on three campuses

IMT Atlantique is more than ever the academic reference player in the West of France, in the area of innovative technological creation. Since 1998, we have accompanied over one hundred companies  (including Satimo, CLS, Medria, Enensys Technologies, Innes, Dolmen, Imascap, etc.) creating over 800 jobs. Today, the incubator is currently accompanying 45 projects simultaneously on its Brest, Nantes and Rennes campuses, particularly in the school's areas of excellence, digital technology, energy, environment and health.