[PORTRAIT D'ADMINISTRATEUR ECAM ALUMNI] François-Régis PRINCE - ECAM PROMO 1978 AML

SCHOOL

How did you get to ECAM?

As a student in my final year of science school in the 1970s, some of the school's ambassadors came to talk about ECAM, and I must admit I was seduced by the presentation of the engineering professions.ducted by the presentation of the engineering professions, which were quite unfamiliar to me since I come from a family of lawyers and doctors.

What stood out for you during your training?

You have to separate the two years of preparatory school, with its intense, almost monastic pace, from the three years of ECAM, which allowed me to experience a period that was certainly always studious, with continuous assessment, but also fully student: hobbies, friendships, voluntary work, music and evenings at the central school on the eve of detention ... I also made some solid friendships as I spent a lot of time talking about existential questions. These friendships are still very much alive, even if I don't see much of each other any more.

As soon as I moved back to Lyon, I attended IAE Lyon III in business management and evening classes.I did a specialized master's degree at the Ecole Centrale de Lyon full-time, before going on to work as a consultant in a Parisian firm.

What advice would you give to the graduating class?

I'd like to ask everyone the question: how well do you know your talents? For some it's obvious, but not for everyone, and that's the case for most people.

Talents are neither skills nor experience, but it's that something that drives us and makes us different in the job we do. If you don't know what they are, find a way to identify them!

WORKING LIFE - PRO CHALLENGES

TODAY, François-Régis PRINCE, what kind of professional is he?

I retired in July 2019 after finishing as an independent consultant in the field of information systems implementation.

What does Engineering mean to you?

I'd like to distinguish two levels, one linked to the curriculum of the preparatory cycles for the French Grandes Ecoles, and the other of course linked to the technical and technological training provided by the Ecole Elle-même.

The first is a school of work that provides a real intellectual capacity to grasp complex issues in a wide variety of fields.

The second, Ingénieur Ingénieur, allows us to use with confidence all that technology has to offer humanity, so thank you to them.

Any other personal/professional challenges you'd like to mention?

I'd like to emphasize a point that I've studied a great deal in the last few years of my life as a consultant. In consulting, we have a lot of mechanistic methodological tools at our disposal to improve company performance. They are useful, but they lack the universality they claim, due to their deterministic nature. Companies are based on people with different cultures, so we need to favor a systemic approach to organizations, which does not, however, negate the more rationalist approaches. For those interested, I have a powerpoint presentation.

THE NETWORK / YOUR COMMITMENTS TO ECAM ALUMNI

What does the Network mean to you?

It's very important to belong to one or more networks in the working world. We don't usually work alone! Compared to the beginning of my professional career, this is a field that has become much more developed, and which now enables much more extensive networking than before, sharing and discussions that transcend cultures, distances and borders.

Tell me about your role in the association!

I first got involved as a "canvasser", because I was called upon, as other retirees have been or will be, to help collect the apprenticeship tax by approaching companies. Then, 2 years ago, Yves Gambin (class of '69), who had been leading this alumni network for 15 years, asked me to take over from him. We're still working together today.

We work closely with the school to contact around 2,350 companies.

Since last year, I've been attached to the association's board as head of the tax department.

What motivated this commitment?

The desire to do something useful without it necessarily being very rewarding

The final word?

A little anecdote: there are quite a few classmates from my class of '78 among those doing this revival work, and well, I realized that I had perfectly in mind their heads from their ECAM years, but ... I recognize a certain number of them now.