Institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace ISAE-SUPAERO

Motto	Excellence with passion
Type	Grande école
Established	1909; 116 years ago (1909)
Location	Toulouse , France

The Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (ISAE-SUPAERO) is a special engineering school in France. It was started in 1909 and was the world's very first school focused on aerospace engineering. This means it teaches students how to design, build, and understand things that fly, like airplanes, rockets, and satellites!

ISAE-SUPAERO is part of the University of Toulouse and many other important groups. It is known as one of the top engineering schools in Europe.

This school was formed in 2007 when two older schools, SUPAERO and ENSICA, joined together. They merged to become more famous around the world and to share their teachers and special equipment. The school also offers extra courses for adults through a company called EUROSAE.

Since it began in 1909, ISAE-SUPAERO has had over 21,500 students graduate. Many of them became very famous! For example, Henri Coandă discovered something called the Coandă effect (about how fluids move). Henri Ziegler was a key person in creating the Airbus airplane program. Frédéric d'Allest was the first head of Arianespace, a company that launches rockets. And Jean-François Clervoy is a real astronaut!

What ISAE-SUPAERO Does

ISAE-SUPAERO is a public school that works closely with the French Ministry of Defense. It is approved to teach engineering and also offers special master's degrees and doctorate degrees.

The school is managed by a group of 27 people, led by a President. They meet a few times a year to make important decisions. There are also other groups that focus on teaching, research, and ongoing education.

ISAE-SUPAERO follows high quality standards for all its activities, including teaching and research.

School History

The Story of SUPAERO

Model of the ENSAE campus in 1968.

The old logo of SUPAERO had an owl, which is a symbol of knowledge. Today, the owl is still part of the ISAE-SUPAERO logo!

In 1909, a smart officer named Colonel Jean-Baptiste Roche saw that the world would need many experts in flying machines. So, he started a school in Paris called "l'École Supérieure d'Aéronautique et de Constructions Mécaniques."

In 1930, the school changed its name to "l'Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique." It also moved to newer buildings in Paris. Later, in 1972, it became "l'Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace," which is the name "SUPAERO" comes from.

In 1968, SUPAERO moved to Toulouse, a big city known for aerospace. It was a great place to be, right next to another important school, l'Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile (ENAC), which teaches about civil aviation.

SUPAERO also created many research labs. These labs work on things like how air moves around planes (aerodynamics), how to control flying machines, robots, electronics for space, and how engines work.

In 1975, SUPAERO was one of the first engineering schools in France that could give out doctoral degrees. This means students could do very advanced research there.

The Story of ENSICA

ENSICA was created in Paris after World War II, in 1946. It was first called "École nationale des travaux aéronautiques." The first group of students had 25 people who would become military engineers for aviation.

In 1957, the school's name changed to "l'École nationale d'ingénieurs des constructions aéronautiques (ENICA)." The program became three years long and focused more on industry, with more civilian students joining.

In 1961, ENICA moved to Toulouse. This helped the school create its own identity. A new student center on campus helped bring all the students together.

In 1969, the school joined a common exam for top engineering schools. In 1979, it received a special award called the Medal of Aeronautics. That same year, the school became known as l'école nationale supérieure d'ingénieurs de constructions aéronautiques (ENSICA).

How ISAE Was Created in 2007

In 2007, ENSAE SupAéro and ENSICA joined together to form one big school: l'Institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace, or ISAE. This brought all their resources and facilities into one place.

In 2015, the main engineering program at the school, called "ingénieur ISAE-SUPAERO," gave its name to the whole school, which then became ISAE-SUPAERO. By the summer of 2015, all the school's buildings were together on the Rangueil campus.

What Students Learn

ISAE-SUPAERO offers many different study programs:

• The main "ingénieur ISAE-SUPAERO" program.
• A special apprenticeship program with another school.
• An International Masters Program for aerospace engineering.
• Six Research Masters Programs.
• Fifteen Advanced Masters Programs.
• Six Doctoral schools for very advanced studies.
• Programs for adults who want to keep learning.

Students who want to join the main "ingénieur ISAE-SUPAERO" program are chosen based on tough exams. These exams are part of a competition for the most selective engineering schools in France.

ISAE-SUPAERO also trains engineers for the military, especially for the armaments corps.

In 2011, ISAE started a group called Groupe ISAE with other engineering schools like ENSMA. More schools joined the group later, like ESTACA and l'Ecole de l'Air.

The school also provides continuing education through its company, EUROSAE.

School Rankings and How to Get In

ISAE-SUPAERO is one of the most selective engineering schools in France. This means it's quite hard to get in, with less than 10% of applicants being accepted.

Here are some of its rankings for its Master of Sciences in Engineering:

Most students are chosen through a very tough exam. This exam usually needs at least two years of intense preparation after high school in special classes called classes préparatoires. About 200 students are accepted each year from these classes or from French universities. The admission process includes written exams in spring and oral exams in summer.

Here's a look at how many students were accepted in 2018:

The average acceptance rates for the national exam are shown below:

Famous Graduates of ISAE-SUPAERO

Many amazing people have graduated from ISAE-SUPAERO (and its older schools, ENSICA and SUPAERO). Here are some of them:

Henri Ziegler, who helped create the Airbus program.

Jean-Paul Herteman, former CEO of Safran.

Thomas Pesquet, a French astronaut.

• Henri Coandă, who discovered the Coandă Effect and designed an early jet plane.
• Henry Potez, who started the Potez airplane company.
• Mikhail Gurevich, a founder of the famous MiG aircraft company.
• Marcel Bloch-Dassault, who started the Dassault airplanes company.
• René Couzinet, an aircraft designer who invented the retractable landing gear.
• Henri Ziegler, known as the "father" of the Airbus program.
• François Hussenot, who invented an early version of the "black box" for airplanes.
• Serge Dassault, a former CEO of Dassault Aviation.
• Frédéric d'Allest, the first chairman of Arianespace, a company that launches rockets.
• Jean-Paul Herteman, a former CEO of Safran, a big aerospace company.
• Jean-François Clervoy, an astronaut.
• Guillaume Faury, the current CEO of Airbus Group.
• Thomas Pesquet, an astronaut.
• Samantha Cristoforetti, an astronaut (she studied here as an ERASMUS student).
• Luca Parmitano, an astronaut.
• Vincent Lecrubier, an Olympic Kayak Champion.

See also

In Spanish: Institut Supérieur de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace para niños

• List of aerospace engineering schools