The Acrotec Group, a regular exhibitor at EPHJ, and the Haute Ecole Arc Ingénierie have signed a three-year partnership agreement to work together on innovation projects involving students from the relevant courses. A promising collaboration to stimulate R&D in the region and prepare our future engineers for the major challenges of high-precision technologies.
Nabil Ouerhani, Deputy Director and Head of R&D at HE-Arc Ingénierie and Philippe Jacot, CTO of the Acrotec Group
The Acrotec Group, a leading manufacturer of high-precision components for the watchmaking, jewellery, electronics, automotive, aerospace and medical industries, has just signed a major partnership agreement with HE-Arc Ingénierie. The 3-year framework contract will fund applied research projects in microtechnology, automation, electronics and software.
All these fields are of interest to the Acrotec Group, particularly the microtechnology sector, which is steeped in the DNA of the Jura Arc and trains specialists in watchmaking and biomedical engineering whose skills are focused on precision, because they are totally in phase with the technological expertise of our various companies,” explains Philippe Jacot, CTO of the Acrotec Group. This partnership will therefore have a double positive impact. It will enable future engineers to confront the technological demands of the high-precision market, and it will accelerate our capacity to innovate by pooling the resources of our group with the laboratories and brains of the HE-Arc. It’s a win-win situation for everyone, including our region, which will be able to maintain and modernise a level of expertise that is the envy of the world!
Specifically, the Acrotec Group will allocate an annual budget of CHF 80,000 over 3 years to HE-Arc. This budget will be used to finance applied research projects, integrated into the Bachelors course, which will have been selected by a bipartite steering committee made up of three representatives from Acrotec and three teachers from the Haute Ecole. This type of public-private partnership dedicated to innovation will also be able to access additional federal funding thanks to the support of Innosuisse.
A relationship of trust
HE-Arc Ingénierie is also delighted with the signing of this framework contract. The projects we have carried out to date with the Acrotec Group have concerned scientifically and technologically relevant issues and have gone very well, which has established a relationship of trust between us,” explains its deputy director and head of R&D Nabil Ouerhani. This partnership will enable us to accomplish our R&D mission within a defined framework. By planning joint projects at the beginning of each year, we will be able to optimise the management of our human and financial resources.
Students from HE-Arc Ingénierie will be involved in various projects with the Acrotec Group, particularly as part of their Bachelor’s degree work. For our professors, research assistants and students alike, it is essential to be in close contact with industry,” explains Nabil Ouerhani. This enables us to be in direct touch with the needs of the market and to adapt our training programmes and refine our applied research and development strategies accordingly.