The “BIP” team wins the eighth edition of “Course en cours”

For the eighth consecutive year, innovation took centre stage in the competition supported by Renault, Dassault Systèmes and the French Ministry of Education.

• The national final of “Course en Cours” 2014, which took place on June 4 at the prestigious École Polytechnique, was won by the “Bip” team from Collège Jean de Rostand, from the Academy of Nantes.
• Almost 9,000 children from secondary schools around France took part in the 2014 edition.
• The objective: to invent, design in 3D, build and run a mini racing car powered by an electric motor.

Almost 9,000 students from schools around France took part in the 2014 edition of “Course en Cours” to race the mini sports cars that they designed, tested and built themselves using state-of-the-art technologies.

On June 4, the finals took place at the prestigious École Polytechnique for the third consecutive year. Twenty-four teams, made up of more than 200 students and accompanying adults, sought to  showcase their projects, not only through the performance of their cars but also in the way that they presented and defended their vehicles, showing all the originality and ingenuity that gained them first place in their respective regional heats.

For the 2 ^nd consecutive year, the Renault electric vehicles were present: 60 test drives took place on ZOE and Twizy. Eight Renault experts participated on evaluations of stands and students’ oral presentations.

The panel of professionals judging “Course en Cours” selected three winning teams from the finalists present on June 4, 2014:

• 1 ^st prize for the “Course en Cours” secondary school event, 2014: “Bip” team from Collège Jean de Rostand (Les Herbiers, Academy of Nantes).
• 2nd prize: « Alpinos » team from Lycée Paul Langevin (Beauvais, Academy of Amiens). A special mention for the subject chosen by this team: Alpine!

• 3rd prize: « Speed One » team from Pré de Cordy Secondary School (Sarlat, Academy of Bordeaux).

A special mention for « Mavala » team, from Perrot d’Abancourt College (Châlons en Champagne, Academy of Reims): a 100% female team that wins the prize for the fastest vehicle in “college” category.

“Course en Cours”

Set up in 2006, “Course en Cours” encourages secondary school students to take part in a team project to design and develop a mini sports car in real conditions over the school year.

“Course en Cours” is an original educational initiative focusing on science and technology. Groups of between four and six secondary school pupils  ̶ aged between 11 and 18 ̶  form teams to build an electric sports car during the school year. Participants design, develop, build, test and run their mini sports cars. Adopting the role of engineers, participants use the same tools and processes as motor sports professionals. The projects also include marketing and communication.

An exercise in multidisciplinary skills and initiative, “Course en Cours” builds bridges between secondary education, universities and industry. It is also a rigorous educational program that covers many of the subjects studied at secondary level, including technology, maths, physics, French and English.

It also supports the values promoted by motor sports: team spirit, rigour, precision, creativity and excellence.

“Course en Cours” owes its success to a tripartite organization that brings together secondary schools, universities and businesses. Each team is supervised by university student-tutors and has access to the tools and methods used in industry.

Through “Course en Cours” Renault is restating its commitment to young people, giving them an insight into the automotive industry and making it easier for them to enter the workplace.

Jean Agulhon , Human Resources Director, France with the Renault group and President of “Course en Cours” in 2014 : “ ‘Course en Cours’ is a practical illustration of our long-standing commitment to help young people and to support the automotive industry. Every year, more than 10,000 secondary school students get involved in a fun project that demands team spirit, creativity and excellence. In this way, we hope to inspire career choices, to encourage students to undertake scientific and technical studies, maybe even in the automotive industry at a later stage.

With its strong emphasis on diversity (encouraging girls to pursue technical and scientific studies and devoting particular attention to schools from less privileged social and cultural environments), the program reflects our policy on young people”.

Every year, Renault supports around 100,000 young people

Renault is pursuing an active policy to promote the employment of young people. The Group is focusing not only on professional expertise and qualifications, but also on equal opportunities and the development of knowledge and good citizenship. Every year, the company welcomes more than 2,300 young people as part of work/study programs and almost 2,000 interns. In partnership with the ANPE, (the French national employment agency), and local job centres, it finds places for 200 non-skilled young people every year. At the start of 2014, Renault took the process one step further by formally setting out its commitments to young people in an intergenerational agreement. Under the terms of this agreement, signed for a period of three years, Renault makes a commitment to hiring a number of young people on work/study contracts equal to 5% of the global workforce.

The Group is also taking part in corporate sponsorship operations and a wide range of partnerships including:  Safety and Mobility for all (13 million children educated on road safety over the past 11 years), and “Une Grande École, Pourquoi Pas Moi”, a program set up in partnership with the prestigious ESSEC business school and the École Polytechnique to help disadvantaged young people gain access to higher education. In this way, Renault supports almost 100,000 children, adolescents and young adults every year.