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Tornos launches a challenge to students participating in the Microcité Challenge
Today's economic and social challenges, particularly in the areas of sustainability and digitalization, require interdisciplinary solutions, in which Tornos has a strong interest. In this respect, the younger generations want to—and must—take an active part. Tornos will play an active role in the new and unifying Microcité Challenge initiative, in which Tornos and nine other innovation players will challenge students to a concrete project in the field of Industry 4.0. This challenge will have both technical and socioeconomic dimensions.
Over three days, from September 8–10, 2021, students divided into interdisciplinary groups and supervised by instructors from the four partner institutions will have the mission of responding in an innovative way to 10 challenges proposed by companies and socioeconomic players in the region, including Tornos. The first flagship event of this pedagogical project of innovation in society will take place the day before, on September 7, with an opening evening of what can now be called the "Microcité Event."
Tornos is accustomed to organizing challenges nearly every year, in particular in collaboration with the i-moutier Incubator and the HE-Arc Ingénierie, and it immediately responded positively to the appeal launched jointly by the University of Neuchâtel, the Haute École Arc Gestion et Ingénierie, the Centre Interrégional de Formation des Montagnes neuchâteloises (CIFOM) technical schools, the Centre professionnel du Littoral neuchâtelois (CPLN), and Microcité SA. With the aim of putting the vital forces, imagination and interdisciplinarity of Neuchâtel's education system at the service of the region, this challenge is in the very spirit of the challenges that Tornos likes to take up. Such undertakings always trigger innovative ideas and concepts and reveal promising talents.
By participating in the Microcité Challenge, Tornos will challenge participating students in the context of a concrete project in the field of Industry 4.0. This challenge will have both technical and socioeconomic dimensions. It will involve development of new products and processes and highlighting new business models and new indutry values. Engineers and other key people will be available during the competition to answer students’ questions and help them learn more about the products and the inner workings of the company.
Six students have chosen the challenge proposed by Tornos. Among them are students in Arc Engineering and Industrial Management, future specialists in innovation management, an ES technician in business processes and another who is studying the design of mechanical systems. Together, they will work on the task, supervised by a teacher from the HE-Arc Ingénierie and a teacher from the CPLN/CIFOM.
Tornos is well aware of the stakes involved in such a project and looks forward to seeing the ingenuity and creativity of the engineers of tomorrow. With this challenge, Tornos is pursuing its objective of opening up the company to the talents of tomorrow by offering students a favorable and appropriate framework for developing their ideas.
The students will finalize and present their pitches in front of a jury meeting at the Aula des Jeunes-Rives of the University of Neuchâtel (UniNE) on September 10, 2021. The public can attend, from 6:30–11 p.m., the closing night, where the three nominated teams will present their respective project pitches in competition for the challenge prize. The Microcité Challenge will end with the designation of the winners and a festive evening to close the event in style.