In two words: absolutely incredible!

340 students, 12 workshops, 22 beneficiaries for 26 impact projects, and up to 93 prototypes produced. The week of useful & responsible digital technology delivered on every promise for its second edition.

The week of useful & responsible digital technology kicked off in style with a launch event at the Palais des Glaces on Monday, June 5, just a stone's throw from the Paris campus.

La Ruche, l'Escalator, 21 the Croix-Rouge social innovation accelerator, Ashoka, Singa, Creatis: companies from the SSE (social and solidarity economy), representing the various beneficiaries, took to the stage to present their projects.

Then software publishers partnering with the event took the floor. IBM, Adobe, Ausha, Make, Alegria, Microsoft, Tableau, Figma, Autodesk... Among other things, they made their tools available to our students and shared best practices with the makers of tomorrow: working on meaningful projects, stepping out of your comfort zone, creating with impact in mind.

The aim during this week was to learn while having fun, discover new tools and technologies, and be curious and creative.

13 specialist instructors supported students throughout the week across 12 themed workshops: automation, generative AI, no-code, 3D printing, dataviz, interface design, video editing, podcast, augmented reality, VR, 3D texturing and staging, AI chatbot.

At the end of these introductory and hands-on workshops, students were asked to produce two deliverables:

  • An A0-format poster summarising their project for the end-of-week exhibition.
  • A prototype responding to the beneficiaries' brief (a video, a website mockup, a podcast, a VR environment, etc.)

And the students' projects?

Friday, June 9: Maker Fair! For the final day of this week dedicated to discovery and positive impact, students' work was opened to the public in an American-style science fair format.

Our students presented all the prototypes developed during the week to the beneficiaries.

3 themed conferences were open to the public and students — an exclusive programme for this edition of the Maker Week.

From 11:30 AM, it was Etienne Mineur who opened the day with a talk that truly resonated with the audience, centred on artificial intelligence — specifically generative AI. The role of designers in the evolution of creative tools, copyright, the limits of the technology — the exchanges were rich and lasted nearly 2 hours.

After a short break, Léna Crolot, a recent Forbes Under 30 laureate, shared her journey with the Billiv project, balancing impact reduction at the heart of the project with the company's business ambitions. The audience was full of sharp, thoughtful questions.

To close, François Taddei delivered a talk entitled What if we..., enriched with reflections on what science and philosophy try to teach us: questioning our individual, collective, and planetary trajectories, rethinking the interconnected bonds that naturally push us to share the same passions, the same desires, and thus bring complementary capabilities to life — so that we can do things together in service of desirable futures.

And the prizes?

At the Maker Fair closing ceremony, 3 prizes were awarded:

The Impact Prize

Céline Balliet and Farrah Haloui from group 3 of the Podcast workshop for Techlipstick

The brief: Aurélie Giard-Jacquet, founder of the Techlipstick podcast, had expressed her wish to promote the inclusion of women in tech through a mini podcast series.

Result: a podcast produced using the Ausha platform on the inclusion of women in digital — "The Secret of a Successful Community Manager".

The great news? The winning group received a grant to continue developing this project!

The Creativity Prize

Ashley Pindi, Mervé Ciftci and Manal El Arari from group 6 of the 3D Texturing and Staging workshop

The brief: Encourage people to consume more responsibly by humanising fruit and vegetables... in 3D! The students responded to the brief proposed by Cocusinage, France's first culinary and eco-responsible social network, using Adobe's Substance 3D software.

Result: the group brought Karoté to life — a karate-kicking carrot character.

The Audience Prize

Zulal Aybek, Yarline Cineus and Valentin Le Roux from group 9 of the 3D Texturing and Staging workshop with the brief proposed by Cocusinage

  

Maker Meet & Maker Night

After the awards ceremony, partners, beneficiaries, students, mentors and curious guests gathered to celebrate the maker spirit and end this second edition of the Maker Week in style — an edition we are all already eagerly looking forward to repeating next year with a 3rd edition!