Engineering degree Food-industry
Course units
The formation rests on a gradual and coherent educational program which combines:
- A basic scientific and general training providing students with the necessary tools for the acquisition of the technical know-how, as well as a strong ability to evolve and a great openness to the world.
- A technical and technological culture combining the expertise of the production processes as well as management and marketing techniques.
- A professional culture which will ensure that students have the appropriate behaviour in a working environment and the mastery of each trade in both their practical and human dimensions which will allow them to manage and lead teams.
- A constant analytical mind allowing to improve, innovate and help to expand the business in which graduates will work thanks to the questioning and comparing of the different processes and methods.
The 3-year training in food-industry is structured along the following specific goals:
- Year 1: learning consolidation of the core engineer and food science knowledge + acquisition of project managing tools and methodology
- Year 2: acquisition of the technological know-how of the different food industry sectors + the carrying out of a project and mastery of project managing tools
- Year 3: prospective analysis of the food indusrtry + strengthening of the expert status + management of a collaborative project
- 36 to 44 weeks are dedicated to internships.
Course overview
The ESIX food industry engineer training course has a general orientation and is multidisciplinary. it ensures graduates a fast integration into all the industrial sectors related to the food industry as well as a complete adaptability to the specific realities of each of its sectors.
The course is highly focused on biology. It covers a wide variety of subjects, such as the basics in agronomics, microbiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, biotechnologies and engineering sciences and techniques.
It also aims at the acquisition of a scientific, technical, human, industrial, and managerial culture, solid enough for graduates to aspire to and reach for high ranks in companies. May it be in production or quality and research and development.
Finally, the gradual acquisition of skills in the techniques of information and communication, the encouragement to go work abroad and the possible mastery of two foreign languages are meant to bring future graduates the ability to quickly integrate the current world context in which they will progress.
Level
Anyone with a two-year Higher Education diploma
Entry requirements
- Preparatory class : BCPST, TB, PC via competitive exams Polytech/ ATS Bio : competitive exam path C after a two-year higher education diploma
- Two-year education diploma in science (degree in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry) DUT (GB, GC-GP, Chemistry, HSE) BTS in nutrition with admission based on application file and interview
- for trainees : file + interview + traineeship contract with a food-processing company)
Application process
Tuition fees
The administrative enrollment includes the payment of the "Contribution Vie Etudiante et de Campus" and the tuition fees. You can find the details here: portail des formations.
Course structure
Full time or as a work/study program depending on the status
Course details
First year (Semester 5 and Semester 6)
- Food science: Biochemical and molecular analysis of food, Microbiology of the food ecosystems, the basics of agronomy and food Biochemistry
- Engineer science: automated systems, materials mechanics, mathematics and statistics, processes.
- Economy and company management: knowledge of the company, accounts management, food law and regulations, project management
- Languages and communication: English, 2nd foreign language, bibliographic and documentary methodology, corporate communication
- Industrial engineering in the food-processing sector: Unitary operations, packaging and wrapping, industrial computing, captors, Microbiology of food ecosystems, enzymatic engineering.
The highlights of the program for full-time students:
- Tutoring projects in groups
- 2 to 3 months working internship in France or abroad.
For trainee students there will be an evaluation within the company every semester.
Second year of formation (S7 and S8)
- Food science and technology on the four food-processing sectors
Dairy products
Plant products
Meat products and animal food
Aquatic products
- -Quality, Safety and environment: quality control and quality of the food products, cybersecurity
- -Economy and company management: organization and management of the production, company law, cost analysis and financial analysis, applied statistics
- -Management: Project management, product marketing, human resources management
- -Language and communication: English, 2nd foreign language
Highlights of the training for full-time students:
- Production of a group project
- 2 to 3 months internship in France or abroad
For trainee students there will be an assessment within the company every semester.
Third year of training (S5 and S6)
The goals of this final year are to:
- Assist performance by analyzing the stakes of managing people and implementing a continuing improvement process.
- Deal with complex and interdependent issues. Students will have to understand the stakes inherent to the food-processing business as well as the stakes and tools of the buy/sell sector. They will also have to make use of the entrepreneurship tools.
- Integrate durability by implementing a sustainability process within the company, knowing how to conceive a sustainable product, or knowing the different dimensions of the societal responsibilities of companies.
- Support health through diet by understanding the role that diet has on our health and by innovating in the healthy food sector thanks to an awareness of the opportunities it offers.
- Use innovative and creative tools by knowing how to set up an innovative project, putting up an experiment and exploiting experimental data.
- Lead an end of studies’ project in response to certain specifications submitted by an external partner. Students will have to know how to report orally and in writing, how to set up a project charter, a planning and a project monitoring and also how to make a bibliographic summary.
Highlights of the training for full-time students:
- Supervised end of studies’ project
- 6 months thematic internship in France or abroad
For trainee students there will be a project management in the technological hall, an assessment within the company during the first semester and a master’s thesis during the 2nd semester.
Internships and placements
Compulsory internships:
- 1st year : 1 month minimum internship
- 2nd year : 2 months minimun internship
- 3rd year : 6 months end of studies' internship
Internships can be done in France or abroard. All students must complete at least one of their internship
abroad.
Coursework and assessment
Scoring scheme /20 based on a ongoing assessment structured in course units (Unité d’Enseignement) and semesters.
The course units (UE) are completed definitively with a grade equal or higher than 10/20. The various examinations within the same course unit can be compensated for. On the opposite, the different course units cannot compensate each other, they must be completed individually.
Internships and projects are assessed though a report and an oral presentation of the corresponding work which will be graded separately.
The engineer diploma can only be ontained if the three years have been completed and if the student or trainee can attest to a B2 level of English proficiency in English, after deliberation of the examination board.
Language
French and English
Study abroad
Opening up to the international scene through :
- Active training in the practice of two foreign languages, including English, with a B2 level.
- A mandatory internship abroad during the 3 years
- The possibility of spending a year or a semester abroad as part of a university exchange program
Learning outcome
The different skills provided throughout the program are divided into 4 skill blocs which apply to:
- Production Management: supervising the manufacturing tool of a food-processing product.
- Innovation and food science: mastering the fundamentals of food, designing new products.
- The Quality sector and the functioning of a company: integrating the quality, safety and environment dimensions into a food-processing context and knowing how to get involved in the managing of a company
- International business and communication: assimilating the international stakes of the food-processing world, knowing how to communicate and being internationally open.
Further study
Specialised Masters or senior specialisation years from other engineer schools.
PhD
Careers
The Food Processing Engineer graduates will find mostly supervisory management jobs such as:
- Counsel/study Engineer
- Research and development engineer
- Production engineer
- Quality engineer – Health, safety, and environment engineer
- Project Manager
- Creation and management of industrial sites from the food-processing sector
Address
Université de Caen Normandie
ESIX Normandie · École supérieure d'ingénieurs
Boulevard Maréchal Juin · CS 14032 · 14032 Caen Cedex 5
France
esix.agro@unicaen.fr
School / Faculty
02 33 01 45 25 · esix.scolarite@unicaen.fr
Course leader
Clothilde Berthelin · clothilde.berthelin@unicaen.fr