Three students from IFP School’s Energy and Powertrains program won first prize in the Student Challenge, organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SIA), on June 18 in Lille. This award highlights the scientific excellence, creativity, and commitment of the School’s students as they tackle the major challenges of carbon-free mobility.
Lucile Munier, Enzo Pedrosa, and Henri-Louis Wacheux, under the guidance of Stéphane Richard (IFP School graduate, class of 2002), distinguished themselves with an ambitious project proposed by Safran Helicopter Engines: the study and optimization of hydrogen-powered aircraft propulsion systems, combining fuel cells, hybrid architectures, and hydrogen storage technologies.
Their work impressed the jury with its technical depth, the relevance of the proposed architectural choices, and the quality of their presentation.
Alongside the winning team, two other teams from IFP School also took part in the competition, demonstrating the diversity of approaches pursued by the School’s students:
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Matéo Costil, Gabriel Dillet, and Thiméo Leroy presented a hybrid powertrain featuring power derivation via a magnetic coupler and axial-flow motors, as part of a project supervised by Stellantis.
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Romain Besson, Corentin Doche, and Pierre-Marie Pannetier developed a hybrid ship concept with support from Vectura System.
Congratulations to the winners and to all the participating students for their talent, dedication, and the quality of the projects they presented. Their performance in this competition demonstrates the ability of IFP School students to devise concrete and innovative solutions to support the energy transition.