Professor at ENSICAEN and researcher at the Crystallography and Material Science Laboratory in Caen, Alexandre Wahl is also, since January, the new director of the Materials CNRT (National Technological Research Centre). His aim: to reunite scientific and industrial skills around innovative projects.

The Materials CNRT

The Materials CNRT
The Materials CNRT conducts top-level technological research in the field of functional and structural materials via close collaboration between industry and research laboratories. This research relies, in particular, on the skills of three laboratories: the Crystallography and Material Science Laboratory (CRISMAT - ENSICAEN/CNRS/UCBN), the Waves and Complex Media Laboratory (LOMC - CNRS/University of Le Havre) and the Laboratory for Molecular and Thio-organic Chemistry (LCMT - ENSICAEN/CNRS/UCBN). All three are involved in the Labex EMC3 (Centre for Materials for Clean Energy and Combustion).»

1995. Research in materials, superconductor oxides in particular, was booming.“Our hopes to accomplish scientific advances that would be of day-to-day use were immense,” , Alexandre Wahl recalls. Having left his Paris hometown as a child to settle in Caen, he studied science and decided to prepare his thesis at the CRISMAT(1),⁽¹⁾, the Crystallography and Material Science Laboratory. “There was no better laboratory to study the subject of my thesis. Here, both equipment and human skills are extraordinary. “. Alexandre Wahl’s research work was conducted under the supervision of Professor Bernard Raveau, founder of the CRISMAT and today a member of the French Academy of Science, and alongside Antoine Maignan, the laboratory’s current director.

When he was appointed a teaching position at the University of Tours in 1996, Alexandre Wahl kept a foothold in Caen in order to continue his research on the properties of these oxides in the field of transport and thermodynamics. The year 2000 was to mark the end of his incessant return journeys, thanks to his permanent appointment at the University of Caen. Yet, other prospects were on the horizon.

In 2003, he was nominated by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs as science and technology attaché at the French Embassy in Barcelona. “Within the context of the ITER (2) project, the key aim was to reach an agreement between France and Spain on a unique European bid for the installation of an experimental fusion reactor “he explains. In 2008, the Ministry of Research and Innovation called upon him to act as a consultant for a period of one year. He then returned to his adopted hometown of Caen, where he embarked upon another vast European project focusing on materials and energy : ENERMAT. The project consisted in the creation of a network and a platform for technology transfer to industry. (Connexions n°42).

Alexandre Wahl was in charge of coordinating associated stakeholders in Caen and of the project’s official launch, last year, at the Lower Normandy Regional Council. An experience that was to offer him new responsibilities, which also require an excellent sense of coordination: the direction of the National Technological Research Centre in Materials, which he took on last January.

This CNRS Joint Service Unit was created in 2001 to valorise top-level technological research

projects developed by scientific and industrial partners.“ We need to develop innovative links between researchers and businesses, relying in particular on regional authorities, for they are in the best position to identify needs and define priorities⁽³⁾. It’s precisely through our involvement in major projects that the territory and its associated establishments can hope to secure their development.

(1)ENSICAEN/UCBN/CNRS Joint Research Unit
(2) ) International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor - Construction began in August 2010 in Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance, in the south-east of France, in the vicinity of the Cadarache nuclear research centre.
(3) Materials are one of four priorities for future development set down by the Regional Innovation Strategies in Lower Normandy (refer to pages 14 and 15 ).

Alexandre Wahl
Director of the Materials CNRT
Tél. 02 31 45 29 13
Website : www.cnrt.ensicaen.fr

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The Public Debate on the New Paris-Normandy Rail Link aimed at freeing Normandy from its isolation, is open from the 3rd of October 2011 to the 3rd of February 2012. After its closure RFF, the project’s contracting authority, will make its final decision as to the project’s continuation, modification or cancellation.

United we stand. Such is the belief among the regional councillors and economic stakeholders who hope to see the Ligne Nouvelle Paris-Normandie1 project come to fruition. ⁽¹⁾. « This project is essential for the region, because each and every day, our rail passengers are confronted with genuine difficulties when travelling to and from Paris,” stresses Philippe Duron, president of the Caen la Mer Urban Community and Deputy for Calvados. “The situation has become increasingly unacceptable for business leaders and for all other passengers alike » Gilles Sergent, representing the Calvados MEDEF (French business confederation), believes, « cIt’s our N°1 priority. If we hope to welcome the best companies, we need to reduce the travelling time between Normandy and Paris. » .” Dominique Goutte, managing director of ENSICAEN, adds, “Our students and our researchers need to be able to quickly reach their counterparts throughout France and Europe.”

The CNDP’s* decision to organise a public debate on the LNPN project is the first step towards its materialisation (*National Commission for Public Debate). Laurent Beauvais, president of the Lower Normandy Regional Council2 reiterates,« The LNPN is a matter of economic survival and we absolutely must seize this historic opportunity. The conclusions of the public debate will enable RFF not only to decide upon the project’s continuation, but it will also help guide its technical choices and define its priorities. ». A well-timed window of opportunity.« It’s an opportunity to take stock of opinions,” highlights Olivier Guérin, chairman of the LNPN project’s CPDP (Public Debate Particular Committee). France’s rail network, Réseau Ferré de France (RFF), the project’s contracting authority, will then have a timescale of two months to make its final decision.”

From 9 to 13 billion Euros.

RFF has presented three scenarios that account for the specific context of Normandy: a dynamic network linking medium-sized towns, fast travel to and from Paris and the importance of local transport links.«Trains will travel on the future rail line at a speed of 250km/h (155mph),” notes Philippe Adam, deputy director of RFF’s LNPN mission. “It will be perfectly suited for intercity links, but also for shorter local links via tilting trains “
“It is essential that we link Paris with medium-sized towns throughout the region and that we develop economic exchange,” stresses Pierre Plaindoux, deputy transport director of the EPADESA (Public Establishment for the Development of La Défense Seine Arche). “For are frequency and travelling time not far more important than maximum speed?” Two essential questions are on the lips of all regional stakeholders: Who will be paying for the construction of this new rail line, the cost of which is estimated between 9 and 13 billion Euros? Laurent Beauvais offers a clear-cut answer, «We need to be ready to pay. And we need to prepare for it now» And as a source of inspiration, he recommends the Breton model, where regional, departmental and town councils all contributed. How long will it take to build?” “We will also need to battle to guarantee its fast development, “warns Philippe Duron. For Normandy has no more time to waste.

(1)The aim of the project is to create a high performance service for passengers travelling between Normandy’s major towns and Paris, and between other large towns throughout the region (travelling time: Paris - Rouen: 45 minutes; Paris – Le Havre: 1h15; Paris – Caen 1h15).
(2)The President of the Lower Normandy Regional Council is also President of the Conseil des Exécutifs (Executive Council) which reunites the three Departmental Council Presidents and the five Urban Community Presidents: Caen La Mer, Cherbourg, Alençon, Flers and Saint-Lô.
(3) RFF: Réseau Ferré de France (French rail network), the contracting authority for the future LNPN high-speed rail link.

Philippe Duron
President of the Caen la Mer Urban Community, Deputy - Mayor of Caen
Tél. : 02 31 39 40 00 / Website : www.caenlamer.fr

Laurent Beauvais
President of the Lower Normandy Regional Council
Tél. : 02 31 06 98 98
Website : www.region-basse-normandie.fr

Philippe Adam
Deputy Director of the LNPN mission Réseau Ferré de France
Réseau Ferré de France
Tél. : 02 32 76 24 06 / Website : www.rff.fr

Pierre Plaindoux
Deputy Director of the Public Establishment for the Development of La Défense Seine Arche (EPADESA)
Website : www.ladefense-seine-arche.fr

Dominique Goutte
Managing Director of ENSICAEN
Tél. : 02 31 53 81 04 / Website : www.ensicaen.fr

Gilles Sergent
Member of the Calvados MEDEF management committee
Tél. : 02 31 06 09 90 / Website : www.medef-calvados.fr

Olivier Guérin
Chairman of the LNPN Public Debate Particular Committee
Website : www.debatpublic-lnpn.org

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In 8 years, Allures Yachting, located in Tourlaville, has become the European leader in long haul yacht construction. The company has been relying on support from Lower Normandy’s players for its development. The MIRIADE Café, held on the 11th of October 2011 at the Hôtel d’Iles de Sées in Macé, in Orne, offered an opportunity to look back on this exemplary project, in the company of an invited guest, Yannick Soubien, Vice-President of the Regional Council.

A firm on the wave of success

Allures Yachting is the entrepreneurial adventure of two engineers, both of them sailing enthusiasts.« We identified needs and seized an opportunity within a market niche - long haul yachts,” recalls Stéphan Constance, one of the company founders. “When the question of where to set up was raised, we were looking for a site with the necessary industrial fabric close at hand.».
Two key ingredients were to lead the two entrepreneurs to opt for Cherbourg: their encounter with CMN (Normandy Mechanical Construction), later to become their industrial mentor , and the welcome that was extended to them throughout the area. « We mobilised the local network. The two entrepreneurs were offered the opportunity to meet with stakeholders such as CMN and DCNS , via Alizé Manche,” recalls Nicolas Doraphé, industry coordinator for the Cherbourg-Cotentin Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “And their project was granted a reimbursable advance by the Lower Normandy Regional Council ». Concurrently, Allures Yachting was offered coaching and support by AREVADELFI*, which became one of its leading shareholders. « “AREVA is committed to supporting industrialisation and to stimulating territorial development,” highlights Jean-Pierre Fourré, its Managing Director. “Over and above financial considerations, we also accompany and coach firms through their various study and reflection phases».

Production, innovation and export…

To further boost its development, the SME then focused on the best production tools. « Due to insufficient space, we were forced to leave CMN,” Stéphan Constance explains. “And since no suitable infrastructure appeared available in Cherbourg to house our activity, we seriously considered leaving ». However, after calling upon the Lower Normandy Regional Council and the Manche Departmental Council for the rehabilitation of a former building, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry found an industrial solution to suit the company’s needs. Local skills were also rallied via the ALIZE initiative and the OPTIMUM operation offered the company assistance aimed at boosting productivity. Since, Allures Yachting has bought two other shipyards, Outremer in 2007 and Garcia in 2010. «Initially, we hadn’t considered developing through external growth,” Stéphan Constance confides. “But it was finally what helped us withstand the economic crisis.” The company has also turned its strategy towards innovation. « An essential lever for development, for it helps our products stand out from the crowd and generates consumer desires,” the firm’s manager notes. In its approach to innovation, Allures Yachting called upon Oséo. “We have accompanied the company throughout several R&D projects », Laurence Cuenin, innovation delegate for Oséo relates.
And growth is also developed through export. Around two thirds of Allures Yachting’s sales are to foreign clients. “To achieve such a figure, support from the Regional Council, Oséo, UBIFrance and the nautical network has proved to be extremely valuable,” Stéphan Constance explains. Created in 2008, Normandy’s Nautical Network (F2N - Filière Nautique Normande) reunites 110 member companies for a total of 820 direct jobs. “It encourages networking,” highlights Laurent Gaudez, the network’s coordinator. F2N has developed its own strategic plan focusing on 4 priorities. It is also the first network in Lower Normandy to be selected within the framework of the “Grappes d’Entreprise” (business clusters) call for proposals by the Ministry of Territorial Development. A further tool for helping regional businesses to establish a firm foothold and to develop their activity.

* AREVA Développement Economique Local et Finances (AREVA Local Economic Development and Funding)

Yves Triboulet
In charge of MIRIADE’s territorial coordination and international development department
Tél. 02 31 53 34 44
site : www.miriade-innovatio.fr

Stéphan Constance
Chairman of Allures Yachting
Chairman of the Normandy Nautical Network (F2N - Filière Nautique Normande)
Tél. 02 33 43 70 21
Site : www.allures.fr

Nicolas Doraphé
Industrial coordinator
at the Cherbourg-Cotentin Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Tél. 02 33 23 32 56
Site : www.cherbourg-cotentin.cci.fr

Laurence Cuenin
Innovation Delegate - OSEO Basse Normandie
Tél. 02 31 46 76 36
Site : www.oseo.fr

Jean-Pierre Fourré
Managing Director of AREVADELFI
Tél. 01 34 96 69 76

Laurent Gaudez
F2N Coordinator
Tél. : 06 85 95 98 37
Site :www.f2n.fr

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In February, the Dutch firm Partner Logistics chose the town of Argentan to establish its first logistics platform in France for warehousing frozen goods. The site makes use of both original and complex techniques. A quick overview.

Partner Logistics: from the Netherlands to Argentan

Partner Logistics: from the Netherlands to Argentan
The Dutch firm Partner Logistics has progressively become a key service provider in the field of frozen goods warehousing. In 1998, the company convinced a major supplier of potato-based frozen foods to establish its first warehouse in the Netherlands (today, the warehouse offers a storage capacity of 126,000 pallets). Hence began the Partner Logistics success story. Then a second warehouse was built to store frozen vegetables. Ten other projects were developed over the following years. Today, the company (with a total workforce of around 500 and an annual turnover of €63 million) is an active provider in almost every sector of the logistics industry, specialising in the agrifood sector and in very low temperature warehousing. In the wake of Argentan, the company has many other projects… in the United Kingdom, Russia and the United States.

You simply can’t miss it! Partner Logistics frozen goods logistics platform can be seen from the motorway, several miles from Argentan. The Dutch firm’s first French-based site is quite striking. “The complex comprises a 6,000m2 warehouse towering at a height of 33 metres,” explains Jean-Marie Verdier, Partner Logistics’ sales director for France. This fully automated cold room can house 40,000 pallets. The complex includes a further building used for handling and order preparation, of a surface area of 3,500m2, and a 500m2 administrative block.

Beyond its impressive size, the platform is also a genuine concentrate of innovation. “It includes the latest in technological developments in terms of automated design and management,” Jean-Marie Verdier adds. “For example, its concrete slab flooring is one of the platform’s fundamental characteristics. It is one meter thick, each square meter requiring to support a weight of 10 tonnes.” The floor is also heated to avoid freezing (the temperature inside the warehouse is -22°C) and cracking under the weight of the building. “Temperature conditions are comparable to those on Mont Blanc,” stresses the site’s sales director. The platform is, in particular, equipped with an oxygen rarefaction system, unique in France, in order to maintain a constant temperature. “This technique offers the added advantage of reducing oxygen, hence limiting the risk of fire,” highlights Jean-Marie Verdier.

Total automation

The platform’s fully automated pallet storage system is another of its designers’ remarkable feats. There are only three of this type of building in France. Management is optimised thanks to a WMS (Warehousing Management System) application developed by Partner Logistics. “Every evening, the operator programmes the robot before leaving his/her work station. Throughout the night, the automated system prepares the next day’s load,” Jean-Marie Verdier explains. “It even reorganises the warehouse to optimise storage. When the fork-lift truck operator arrives in the morning, the pallets are ready and waiting to be loaded.” It’s simple and efficient.
Thanks to robots, Partner Logistics can apply service costs that are 30% below those offered by its competitors. “A considerable advantage for both loaders and carriers in a current context where logistics costs need to be kept to a minimum due to fluctuating fuel prices,” he adds.
To complete the platform, there are twelve access points to the loading dock and two shuttles¹. “The shuttles are docks where delivery drivers can load or unload the contents of an articulated lorry in two minutes,” Jean-Marie Verdier goes on to explain. Since it opened last February, two of Partner Logistics’ leading clients, Ysco (ice creams and sorbets) based in Argentan, and Panavi (the French bakery and pastry leader) have been using the new platform.

A driving force for the local economy

The Dutch firm did not chose Argentan purely by chance. “We are here for a number of good reasons,” stresses Jean-Marie Verdier. “We already work with Ysco in Belgium and the ice cream manufacturer’s Argentan site asked our group to put forward proposals. In 2006, Bram Hage, Partner Logistics’ founder, contacted the Pays d’Argentan Community of Communes.” The town’s geographical location was also a decisive factor. The area is easily accessible by motorway and the commercial port of Le Havre is nearby…
Regional players also made the necessary efforts to attract the Dutch service provider. “The quality of our offer made the difference,” highlights Richard Rayon, in charge of economic development for the Pays d’Argentan Community of Communes and the Flers-Argentan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “Together, we successfully reunited the best possible conditions to welcome a project like the Partner Logistics’ platform. By anticipating the opening of the A88 motorway and by offering them the right development site and appropriate accompanying measures.”

Mobilisation and commitment that has proved productive. “For Argentan, hit by a series of industrial setbacks from 1997 to 2004, the arrival of an internationally renowned service provider like Partner Logistics heralds two promising prospects,” continues Richard Rayon. “The first is the acceleration of an economic trend towards the logistics sector, likely to generate new local wealth. The second is the reinforcement of our existing industrial activities (in particular in the agrifood sector) thanks to a new and highly efficient service.” And for a big project, it is indeed a big project. It required a total investment of €34 million and should ultimately employ a staff of fifty. Throughout the region, the economic prospects brought by Partner Logistics are offering an encouraging boost to morale. “Following the arrival of companies such as Toupargel, Le Calvez, Transports Lambert and the development of Normatrans, Relais d’Or Miko and Argentan Transport, the choice made by Partner Logistics further endorses Argentan and its surrounding region’s strategic position for the logistics sector and paves the way for a more positive outlook,” Richard Rayon firmly believes. Today, local players are relying on this driving force to get the local economy back on the right track.

(1) A robot capable of handling pallets in a high density storage area, such as the Argentan platform. Shuttles handle pallets in masked time.

Jean-Marie Verdier
Sales Director for Partner Logistics
Tel: 06 50 57 77 39
www.partnerlogistics.eu

Richard Rayon
Economic Development Manager
Flers-Argentan Chamber of Commerce and Industry & Pays d’Argentan Community of Communes
Tel: 02 33 12 25 25
Website: www.argentan.fr

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By placing businesses at the heart of development mechanisms and by targeting growth markets, the Regional Innovation Strategy (SRI), defined by the French State, the Regional Council and Oséo, intends to offer innovative projects a powerful impetus.

Four challenges, three lines of attack|Seed capital for innovation|A new system of governance for innovation in Lower Normandy

Four challenges, three lines of attack
Our intentions are perfectly clear.
The SRI hopes to take on 4 priority challenges
1.Investing in the future
A priority involving 4 growth markets within which Lower Normandy is undeniably a step ahead: health, materials, the environment and digital technologies.
2. Placing businesses at the heart of the innovation system
Transforming business needs into specific requests, supporting useful public research to serve businesses
3. Highlighting non-technological innovation
Marketing, design, management and organisation offer scope for innovation that can render businesses increasingly competitive.
4.Adopting a strategy centred on projects
Federating skilled players around major innovation projects, in order to guarantee efficient development from design to product marketing
… To achieve these aims,
the strategy will be deployed over three key lines of attack:
1. Mobilising, in a coordinated manner, the network of innovation players to ensure it offers a better response to stakeholder needs and expectations.
2. Accompanying businesses towards and throughout the innovation process, via a project-based approach, from detection to marketing.
3. Guaranteeing that public research institutions and the research valorisation and technology transfer system contribute efficiently towards developing innovative projects and creating innovative businesses.

Seed capital for innovation
Concurrent to the SRI,a “fonds interrégional d’amorçage (FIRA)” (interregional seed capital fund) was recently created under the impetus of France’s Grand-Ouest regions (Lower Normandy behind the initiative, joined by Upper Normandy, Brittany and the Pays de la Loire). Faced with the shortage of funding for innovation in the private sector, this new tool will inject capital into entrepreneurial projects which are still in their R&D phase. Support that should enable prototypes to be completed, technological projects to be validated and marketing to be prepared. Each Regional Council will be contributing €2 million.

A new system of governance for innovation in Lower Normandy
The SRI will also be bringing a new system of regional governance for innovation.
Whilst all major strategic decisions with regard to innovation require validation by the Regional Council President and the Regional Préfet, the deployment of the SRI will depend on the continuous implication of an Operational Innovation Cell (COI - Cellule opérationnelle de l’innovation). The cell will meet every two months. Its committee will comprise ten members representing the State, the Region and Oséo. The SRI’s project management will be ensured by MIRIADE.
1st level | decisional
Project management
Innovation Steering Committee
Presided over by the Regional Préfet and the Regional Council President
2nd level | operational
Assistant project management
Operational Innovation Cell (COI)
The cell will meet approximately once every two months (SGAR, Regional Council, DIRECCTE, DRRT, Oséo). Examples of subjects falling under the COI’s authority: monitoring growth markets, innovation forum, development of Miriade tools, implementation
innovation observatory…
3rd level | organisational
Project management
MIRIADE
In charge of coordinating implementation
following orders from the COI

International competition is a constant reminder: our regional economic fabric’s competitiveness necessarily relies on high added value activities. As such, innovation has been the preferred target for European support over the past years. When preparing the ERDF programmes for 2007-2013, and in complement to the Lisbon strategy (for competitiveness and employment), the European Commission insisted on the necessity for regions to contribute directly towards getting France back in the running. Each region has been invited to develop its own Regional Innovation Strategy (SRI). In Lower Normandy, this SRI, which was formalised late 2009, was officially adopted last June by the Regional Council. Its first originality lies in the fact that it is a State - Region - Oséo strategy. “For the very first time, the three leading innovation players have agreed upon a joint strategy,” notes Jacques le Vagueresse, the Lower Normandy Regional Council’s director for economy and research ⁽¹⁾.

“Placing the business at the heart, not at the end, of the process”

To achieve their aim, the three partners began by launching an impressive diagnostic evaluation involving in-depth consultation with the region’s innovation players… “This SRI isn’t just a piece of paper, even less just another institutional exercise. Tomorrow’s jobs are at stake,” stresses Christian Van Puyvelde, in charge of the Competitiveness, International Affairs and Economic Change department at the DIRECCTE⁽²). “Hence, our strong commitment towards placing businesses at the heart, and not at the end of support processes, with improved coordination aimed at increasing efficiency.” “Placing the business at the heart of the process” A commitment measured in action rather than words. The strong cohesion between institutional and business players was tangible during the preparation and the completion of the diagnostic evaluation, conducted in 2009 upstream of the SRI. Forty-five one-to-one interviews, themed workshops and a half-day event to exchange on the diagnostic process (with around 150 participants). “Attended by valorisation teams, competitiveness clusters and businesses, I remember how fascinating the workshops were. Opinions were voiced and proposals put forward,” hails Xavier Drouet. Regional delegate for research and technology ⁽³⁾, he believes that, “The partnership approach, involving consultation with businesses and with those who provide technological tools, made quite an impact.”

“A greater need for time than for money”

The first virtue of the diagnostic evaluation was that it offered a clear view of regional strengths and weaknesses in the field of innovation. It confirmed a “lack of high added value services”, and a “brain drain. “The mass departure of our young graduates could well result in a detrimental lack of highly qualified staff within 5 years,” Xavier Drouet believes. But it also highlighted “high scientific potential and excellent coordination among associated players via Region and State supported hubs and networks.” And it offered a better insight into business needs and expectations: “Businesses clearly demonstrate the need for public accompanying measures, rather than just funding,” resumes Laurent Gauvin, from the DIRECCTE. “They are looking to gain time and are keen to work in project mode.” The SRI offers a number of solutions to satisfy these needs. Jacques le Vagueresse sums them up via three key points: “optimised governance, recognition of non-technological innovation and the identification of priority sectors.” It offers businesses a strategy centred on projects, soon in the form of the “Fabrique de Projets” (project factory), a key event organised by MIRIADE and scheduled for 2012. The principle is simple: a technician, provided with a number of questions from a business on a given innovative project, must quickly identify all useful players, reunite them and make sure they are available to help the business in question. “The aim is to promote one major project every year,” highlights Jacques le Vagueresse. “To reunite, around an industrial or laboratory team, the winning “business - research - higher education” trio, in order to develop a project with the potential to impact an entire sector.

” Four growth markets and “non-technological innovation”

The SRI’s second “innovative” approach: to encourage non-technological innovation, “which covers innovations that are not product-related but that concern internal marketing, management, design and organisational strategies,” explains Christian Van Puyvelde. “An approach that can offer businesses an undeniable competitive advantage and that is to be encouraged.”

Finally, the SRI permanently establishes 4 growth markets for innovation (refer to boxed article “four challenges, three lines of attack…”) within which Lower Normandy can credibly hope to stand as a competitive candidate. Health, materials, the environment and digital technologies. “We have a solid claim in all of these sectors and they could well offer our economy long-term momentum, provided we boost innovation,” believes Christian Van Puyvelde. Xavier Drouet, in turn, appreciates, “the desire to produce results. For one of the first virtues of this SRI is precisely the detection of 4 sectors in which we need to concentrate our efforts.”

(1) Jacques Le Vagueresse is also director of MIRIADE, the Regional Mission for Innovation and Economic Development Action, which will be in charge of deploying a share of the SRI.

(2) DIRECCTE (Lower Normandy Regional Directorate for business, faire trade, consumer affairs, work and employment)

(3) The DRRT (Regional Delegation for Research and Technology) represents the Ministry for Higher Education and Research’s Research and Innovation Directorate General

Lower Normandy’s regional innovation strategy can be downloaded at:

http://sig.cr-basse-normandie.fr/

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As from January 2012, the Échangeur de Basse-Normandie⁽¹⁾ will be providing stakeholders from the horse industry with access to its Equi-TIC platform, in order to help them make better use of services available via the Internet.

It is a secret for no one, Lower Normandy is the quintessential land of horses. Lower Normandy is France’s leading breeding region, the birthplace of a large number of champions, a pilot region via its Horse Industry Competitiveness Cluster and, last but not least, the host region for the World Equestrian Games in 2014.
“The aim of the Equi-TIC platform is to offer breeders, vets, professional riders, brokers, farriers or horse owners improved command of modern dematerialisation, management and communication tools available on line (websites, mobile applications, client relation/electronic data management/invoicing software packages…),” explains Frédéric Cosniam, Equi-TIC project leader for the Échangeur de Basse-Normandie.

Developing the use of tools specifically designed for the sector and, subsequently, improving productivity and communication between its professionals is sure to put Lower Normandy’s horse breeding industry a step ahead of its competitors on the international scene. “Our key aim is to accelerate the alleviation of the psychological, technological or economic barriers that hinder the development of ICTs in the horse industry,” highlights Frédéric Cosniam. That’s why we also plan to take our mobile platform direct to professionals, for example during trade fairs or interprofessional encounters.” The fight against the digital divide is also on in the horse industry.

(1) The Échangeur de Basse-Normandie is a resource and training centre on Information and Communication Technology. Located in Alençon (head office) with regional branches (Argentan, Saint-Lô and shortly Caen and Deauville), the Échangeur Basse-Normandie has a number of showrooms (equipped with several PCs, an information panel, software and hardware) to illustrate the various uses of ITC. It comprises several themed platforms (e-health, dematerialisation, broadband, mobility, security, e-commerce, Internet).

Frédéric Cosniam
Equi-TIC project leader
Echangeur de Basse-Normandie Saint-Lô branch Zone Delta
235, rue Joseph Cugnot
50000 SAINT LO
Tel: : 02 33 80 87 50
Website: www.echangeurbn.com/les-antennes-de-l-echangeurbn/antenne-st-lo.php

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A national call for tenders was recently launched to designate consortiums whose role will consist in developing and running France’s five first offshore wind farms, including the Courseulles-sur-Mer project. An opportunity that Lower Normandy fully intends to seize.

The first phase of the French offshore wind turbine programme - a total of 3,000 megawatts - is now underway. After deciding on the 5 sites (Courseulles-sur-Mer, Le Tréport, Fécamp, Saint-Brieuc and Saint-Nazaire) that will welcome the country’s future wind farms, the French State launched a national call for tenders last July. Early 2012, it will designate the groups that will be in charge of their construction and their management. Subjected to strict constraints in terms of employment and training, these consortiums will also be required to stipulate their project’s port of registry.
Within this context, “The Associated Normandy Ports (PNA) is taking position, with Cherbourg as the site for the manufacture and assembly of the wind turbines, and Caen for establishing the Courseulles wind farm’s maintenance site,” explains Alexia Lemoine, in charge of MIRIADE’s⁽¹⁾ project engineering department. The deep-water port of Cherbourg will be drawing attention to its many assets during the forthcoming competition. “Available land (36ha), infrastructures (deep-water port), industrial history and experience in the construction of oil platforms,” Alexia Lemoine names but a few. Late September, the AREVA group announced its choice for the port of Le Havre, whereas in November, Alstom stated its intention to establish in Saint-Nazaire and Cherbourg should the consortium with EDF be selected.

Regional mobilisation

A regional SME support initiative launched by MIRIADE has, for several months now, been concentrating on the emergence of a new regional sector devoted to Marine Renewable Energies, which promises to generate around a thousand jobs. After joining the Pôle Mer-Bretagne, the agency is now focusing on training in order to ensure that an adequate response is offered to future business needs. Concurrently, it is consulting fishing professionals. “After the BtoB gateways organised in April ⁽²⁾ and focusing specifically on MREs, a new edition of One-to-One encounters is scheduled for next December in order to tally consortium needs with SME skills,” explains Alexia Lemoine. “Human resources and communication tools are dedicated to the development of the industrial sector throughout the region.” PNA is also committed to extending the Quai des Flamands for a total investment of around €40 million… The regional Préfet has placed the DREAL⁽³⁾ and its Energy department at the head of regional State services with the role of monitoring associated industrial projects. The development of MRE is a genuine challenge for Lower Normandy. A forceful impetus is underway and collaboration between regional authorities, the DREAL, the DIRECCTE⁽⁴⁾, PNA, MEFs⁽⁵⁾ and the key economic players involved is sure to offer competing consortiums a fast and efficient response to their needs.

(1) Regional Mission for Innovation and Economic Development Action
(2) Refer to Connexions N°46
(3) Regional Directorate for the Environment, Development and Housing
(4) Regional Directorate for business, faire trade, consumer affairs, work and employment
(5) Employment and Training Centres

Alexia Lemoine
In charge of MIRIADE’s Project Engineering department
Tel: 02 31 53 34 45
Website: www.miriade-innovation.fr

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Created last June on the occasion of the Paris digital creation fair “Futur en Seine”, Normandy Digital Life is the result of the collective efforts of Normandy-based players involved in developing and promoting digital technologies. They are now joining forces to promote their skills and know-how.

M-Stadium: connecting supporters!

M-Stadium: connecting supporters!
Developed by the Orange Labs R&D centre in Caen, in partnership with the University of Caen, the M-Stadium project enables supporters to access a wide range of services from their mobile phones equipped with NFC ⁽¹⁾ (Near Field Communication) technology.
This new contactless mobile phone application offers users the possibility to purchase tickets, organise transport or even accommodation prior to the event, to receive information and to watch interviews during the match, or to obtain loyalty points or promotional gadgets after the match.
M-Stadium was tested on the 21st of September during the Caen -Olympique Lyonnais match at the Stade Michel d’Ornano in Caen, and will be available at the Stade de France in Paris a year from now. The concept will then be adapted to suit other types of event such as the World Equestrian Games in 2014. (1) NFC technology is a wireless and very short range data transfer system enabling information to be exchanged between a mobile phone and a receiving terminal. M Stadium  Website

Organised by Cap Digital, a competitiveness cluster specialising in digital content and services, Futur en Seine is an international event that reunites a vast array of innovative players from the field. The operation offers project initiators an opportunity for exposure on the international scene, and a chance to present their accomplishments and to establish contacts…

Lower Normandy, a pioneer region in the development of digital technologies, was logically approached by the fair’s organisers to take part and, at the same time, to promote its skills in digital innovation. Hence, under the shared “Normandy Digital Life” banner, ten companies and project initiators from Lower Normandy were offered a moment in the spotlight to present their innovative projects to an audience from across the globe. Behind the initiative, four funding partners: the Lower Normandy Regional Council, Manche Numérique, Orne Développement and Synergia. With them, they took ENSICAEN, the TES Competitiveness Cluster, the Echangeur de Basse-Normandie, the ESAM Caen/Cherbourg, Orange Labs, Biplan, Memoree, Oreka and PostHuit… all of them with projects currently underway in the field of digital innovation. “Normandy Digital Life offers increased exposure on the regional and national scene,” highlights Céline Carré, in charge of the i2N (Innovations Numériques Normandes - Norman Digital Innovations) programme for the Lower Normandy Regional Council’s Territorial Digital Development department. It also means that our businesses are capable of working together and in harmony, and that support is available for them. And that’s an undeniable asset.”

The initiative enables Lower Normandy to highlight its potential and to establish the essential role it intends to play in the future development of digital technologies. “Today, we are looking to bring the brand name to life and to become Normandy’s reference in digital technologies,” declares Ludivine Bigot from Synergia. “We fully intend to return to trade fairs in order to demonstrate our region’s many advantages for the development of this flourishing sector.” And dates are already on the agenda for the coming months…

Normandy Digital Life
Ludivine Bigot - Synergia
Tel: 02 31 46 74 54
Website: www.synergia.fr

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New generation more eco-friendly boats - such is the challenge Marethix Industries SAS has decided to take on. Construction of this type of boat will be launched in 2012, in Caen la Mer, on the Norlanda 3 site (formerly occupied by Yachts Industries) in Mondeville.

The project’s beginnings were developed in Morocco by Halieurop SA, a company specialising in naval construction and repair. In 2009, the company, whose shareholders are French, launched an ambitious R&D programme, following recommendations by the Moroccan authorities. In 2010, the target project, baptised Marethix and consisting in the first patented concept for developing an integrated multimodal hybrid fishery for small pelagic fish (sardines, mackerel, anchovies…), met with success via three prizes rewarding its technological, innovative and ecologic qualities.

“The project consists in building and sailing 78-feet fishing catamarans, capable of producing more energy than they consume, thanks to renewable energies such as the wind and the sun,” explains Eric Le Quéré, Managing Director of Halieurop SA and Marethix Industries SAS. “The boats we build in France will be able to sail without emitting CO2 and without using fossil fuels, in the hydro-climatic conditions one would expect to find to the south of Morocco and in tropical oceanic zones. They will enable us to optimise the use of halieutic resources via an onboard processing system and the use of standardised refrigerated containers.”
Boats will be equipped with rigging including four rigid wings whose masts, without shrouds, will rotate at 360° and inside which 4 sets of swivelling solar panels will be installed. The system will rely on two underwater generators (water turbines), whereas the propellers will be powered by electric engines. Initially designed for fishing, but also adaptable for other applications, these boats will offer optimal exploitation of Morocco’s halieutic resources, hitherto neglected due to the lack of appropriately equipped vessels.

Prototypes on the agenda for 2012

Since Morocco does not yet benefit from the necessary infrastructures and skills to build this type of ship, construction of a fleet of 6 vessels will be launched within the Caen la Mer urban community as early as 2012, on the 6,000m Norlanda 3 site, located alongside Quai Hippolyte Lefebvre. Marethix Industries SAS will also be launching the construction of pollution control ships, also patented. “We decided to establish Marethix Industries SAS in France because the three company founders are French and because we know that, in France, we can find the skills and know-how to build these boats,” adds Eric le Quéré.
“The site - which the major local stakeholders, Caen la Mer, the Caen Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Synergia convinced us to adopt - is perfectly suited for our future activity. And more importantly, the conurbation and the region boast the necessary industrial infrastructures and the technical and technological skills for building boats in the best possible conditions.”

The three founders of Marethix Industries - of which a third of the capital is held by Halieurop SA - plan to recruit 45 employees for a 3-year period. Marethix Industries’ Moroccan subsidiary is currently officialising the modalities for a 60,000 tonne fishing quota to be allocated within the framework of an already qualified call for tenders by the Moroccan government; its fleet will cover the south Moroccan provinces.
A fish processing plant is also due for development in Agadir. High added value products such as marinades, smoked fish and convenience foods, along with processed coproducts and omega3 fatty acids will be exported to Europe. “Genuine prospects for international exchange on a win-win basis appear clearly visible on Normandy’s horizon.”

Eric Le Quéré - Founder
Marethix Address: Norlanda 3
Website: www.marethix-industrie.fr

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The CIMAP⁽¹⁾ laboratory’s Materials and Laser Instrumentation (MIL) team has just made a major discovery in the field of lasers. Their secret: doping CaF2 fluorite, a very specific crystal, then cooling it with liquid nitrogen.

Increasingly powerful super lasers: in a few words, that’s precisely what CIMAP’s MIL team has just discovered. An important advance which has led to an international publication and participation in three major conferences, two of them abroad. Specialised in the construction and characterisation of rare-earth ⁽²⁾ doped materials for laser applications, the team, led by Richard Moncorgé, is proud to see one of its research topics, initiated in 2004, at the forefront of research. The project has gradually attracted a number of public and private partners⁽³⁾. “We discovered how to improve the candle power and the spectroscopic characteristics delivered by a quite unique laser material,” explains Richard Moncorgé. We have added a rare-earth ion Yb3+ to CaF2 fluorite - a crystal found in the natural environment.”

Liquid nitrogen cooling

The efficacy of emitted radiation was then improved by lowering the temperature of the crystal using liquid nitrogen (-196°). Consequently, the crystal dilates far less. Very little energy is lost between the energy required to stimulate the crystal and produced radiation. Thermal loss associated with heating the crystal is very low. “We refer to this as a quasi-two level laser function.”
“The advantage of this crystal lies in the fact that it can ultimately be developed in very large dimensions, to produce extremely large beams.” Indeed, fluorite is generally used for the production of printed circuits in which crystal disks can reach a diameter of 40cm. Lasers using this crystal could be used, for example, in protontherapy, a technique aimed at destroying cancerous cells by irradiating them with particle beams.

(1) Centre for Research on Ions, Materials and Photonics CNRS-CEA-ENSICAEN-UCBN joint research unit
(2) Rare-earths are a group of metals with similar properties. They are generally relatively chemically reactive, particularly at high temperatures or when finely divided.
(3) Charles Fabry laboratory at the Institut d’Optique (LCFIO), Institut de la Lumière Extrême (ILE), FZD Research Centre in Dresden (Germany) and Amplitude-Systèmes, a French company based in Bordeaux.

Richard Moncorgé
In charge of the CIMAP’s MIL team
Tel: 02.31.45.25.58
Website: http://cimap.ensicaen.fr

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