Patrice Hauret, the new Head of the School’s Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science

The École nationale des ponts et chaussées has announced the appointment of Patrice Hauret as chair of its Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science (IMI). He succeeds Eric Duceau, chief scientific officer at EADS. Patrice Hauret works at the Michelin Group, where he leads strategic research and innovation programs.

A Journey at the Intersection of Research Networks and Industrial Innovation

A graduate of the École nationale des ponts et chaussées (class of 2001), Patrice Hauret has built his career at the intersection of applied mathematics, research networks, and industrial innovation.

After earning a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the École Polytechnique, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), he joined the Michelin Group in 2006, where he held several positions within Research & Development.

Initially in charge of numerical simulation activities, then of the pre-development of passenger tire lines, he now leads several strategic research and innovation programs within the Group.

Deeply committed to fostering the scientific community, he serves on numerous French and European scientific committees. A holder of the Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR), he received the 2016 Felix Klein Prize from the European Mathematical Society, which recognizes outstanding contributions to applied mathematics.

“I am deeply honored to have been chosen by the School to succeed Eric Duceau, who served as chair of the IMI Department for nearly twenty years. I would like to express my gratitude to him for his dedication, vision, and the work he has accomplished alongside all the teams. The IMI Department has never played such a central role in the School’s mission and in addressing today’s major challenges. At the intersection of all disciplines, it plays a decisive role in training the engineers, researchers, and decision-makers of tomorrow. Our ambition is to build on this momentum and further expand its influence, for the benefit of our students and École des Ponts,” says  Patrice Hauret.

The IMI Department at the Heart of Global Change

Artificial intelligence, computer vision, data science, numerical modeling, cybersecurity, optimization, quantitative finance, scientific computing: few fields of activity today do not rely, directly or indirectly, on the disciplines covered by the IMI Department.

In the face of this accelerating pace of technological and societal change, academic excellence remains the department’s primary responsibility. This requires excellence among students, faculty, and researchers, as well as the continuous adaptation of curricula and methods to anticipate changes rather than merely react to them.

At the intersection of the School’s other departments, the IMI is dedicated to providing the scientific foundations needed to model complex systems, anticipate changes, and inform decision-making. This cross-disciplinary position is one of its greatest strengths.

Interdisciplinarity will be more essential than ever. It enables students to fully engage with the scientific, economic, and societal issues of the 21st century and to contribute to major challenges such as the energy transition, new forms of mobility, sustainable engineering, and the applications of artificial intelligence in healthcare.

Strengthening Partnerships and International Reach

Building relationships with businesses, research organizations, and leading international universities is also a strategic priority.

These collaborations offer students exclusive access to top-tier expertise, the most innovative projects, and exceptional career opportunities. They also contribute to the School’s reputation and its standing among the leading institutions in engineering, applied mathematics, and computer science.

This ambition is, above all, a collective one. It will be driven by the School’s administration, the laboratories, the department’s faculty members, Academic Director David Gontier, Academic Affairs Officer Sandrine Guillerm, and all the students who bring the richness and excellence of the IMI department to life every day.