EPF - School of Engineering

EPF, former Ecole Polytechnique Féminine (Polytechnic School for Women), was founded in 1925, as one of France's first Grandes Ecoles to train women to be engineers. Since then, it has trained almost 10,000 graduates in every sector of industry and service. Each class has 300 students in the general curriculum and 20-30 students in double degree programmes.

EPF was founded in 1925 by the female engineer Marie-Louise Paris, under the name IEF (Institut Électromécanique Féminin - Women's Electromechanical Institute), to train young women to be electromechanical engineers. It also included a shorter programme that trained draftswomen and assistant engineers. In 1933, IEF became EPF (Polytechnic School for Women) and added an extra year of studies (moving from 2 to 3 years of study) and an aeronautics department.

In 1938, EPF received accreditation by CTI (Commission des titres d’ingénieur) to grant engineering degrees, and in 1943 it received recognition from the French State. In 1976, EPF became a member of the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles. In 1993, it joined the UGEI (Union des Grandes Ecoles Indépendantes) after gaining "public-interest foundation" status in 1991.

EPF began accepting male students in 1994, but its history and its expertise makes it one of the engineering schools with the highest percentage of female students (36% compared with 17% in other engineering schools).

After its early days at the CNAM (Conservatoire national des arts et métiers), EPF had to move to Sceaux in 1956 (20 kms from Paris), with its address at 3 bis rue Lakanal, in Marie-Louise Paris' personal home. Since then, EPF has expanded and acquired two other sites. EPF opened a new site in Troyes (East of France), in 2010 and another one in Montpellier (South of France) in 2012.

The promotion of diversity has alwas been in the heart of the EPF project since the beginning in 1925. Renown for the high standards of its academic programs, the school has developped a special relationship with many local institutions on the french territory and also with research centers. These tight bonds led to the opening of two new campuses. On the one hand in Troyes in 2010 and on the other hand in Montpellier in 2012.

For more than 50 years, EPF has shown mutual trust for its partner companies, based on their recognition for our well-rounded engineers' professional merit.
A testimony to this mutual relationship between the school and companies, several large groups (EADS, EDF, GrDF and Dassault Aviation) serve on EPF's Board of Directors and its continuing education board.

They play an active role in setting out the academic curriculum and providing advice on majors and coursework (more than 300 professionals take part in courses), taking part in professional conferences, sponsoring classes and hosting students.

This special relationship between the company and EPF is the result of our school's serious professional integration policy, backed by a department dedicated to the issue.

This entity is in charge of preparing engineering students for professional insertion. It organises conferences with large corporations, prepares our students for the workplace (CV/resume coaching and interview preparation) and promotes our graduates' projects through the "Les EPF ont du talent" competition.

With a focus on the industrial sector, this department encourages students to take on internship and job opportunities and fosters EPF students' networking with companies.

One of the highlights of EPF's year is the Corporate Forum held annually in October.
More than 40 exhibitors from all sectors (aeronautics, telecommunications, IT, construction, environment, finance, etc.), 450 visitors, many CVs handed out in exchange for internship and job offers. It gives engineering companies the chance to recruit well-rounded prospects at the source. Note that the Forum is also open the foreign companies.

Starting at the beginning of the 2009 academic year, in partnership with Cefipa (CFAI) and the with Montpellier Business School CFA, EPF now offers apprenticeship engineering training. With an enrolment of 30 students with 2 years' post-secondary experience, it prepares future Industrial and Information Systems engineers through a CTI-accredited curriculum that combines coursework and on-the-job training.

In addition to training well-rounded engineers, one of EPF's primary concerns is making its students capable of being adaptable and operational in the workplace.
To meet this goal, it has included several approved internships in its programme, throughout the curriculum. Internship projects are done upon the company's request, in France or abroad. Students are assisted by the internship department and advised by an EPF professor and supervised by an engineer from the company.