SURE 2026: The Lyon-Saint-Etienne Engineering Alliance welcomes its first international cohort specialising in energy and water
For four weeks, The Lyon–Saint-Étienne Engineering Alliance hosted its first international cohort as part of SURE – the Sustainable Resources Engineering Summer Programme, a research and training programme dedicated to the major challenges facing sustainable resources.
For this inaugural 2026 edition, the SURE – Summer Undergraduate Research Experience programme brought together 12 international students to work on two key themes: energy and water.
This initiative demonstrates The Lyon–Saint-Étienne Engineering Alliance’s commitment to developing joint international programmes, drawing on the complementary expertise of its four member institutions: Centrale Lyon, ENTPE, INSA Lyon and Mines Saint-Étienne.
The 2026 cohort comprised six students from Texas A&M University who were hosted in Saint-Étienne, as well as six students from Texas A&M University, the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, who were hosted in Lyon.
During their stay, the students explored several campuses, laboratories and research environments across the Lyon–Saint-Étienne region, whilst working on projects relating to contemporary challenges in engineering and transitions.
This inaugural edition thus helped to foster exchanges between international students, academic staff, laboratories and socio-economic partners, through an approach combining education, research and intercultural experience.
Projects at the intersection of energy and materials
In Saint-Étienne, the students were welcomed onto the campuses of Centrale Lyon ENISE and Mines Saint-Étienne.
In particular, they worked on projects carried out in partnership with Cetim – the Technical Centre for Mechanical Industries – and Post Industrial Crafts (PIC). This work focused notably on materials and technologies for sustainable energy, in line with the challenges of the energy transition.
These collaborations enabled the students to explore research and innovation issues directly linked to the needs of the socio-economic world.
Water, sustainable cities and the environment: an immersive experience in Lyon
In Lyon, the programme continued at INSA Lyon, with the participation of academic staff from Centrale Lyon, INSA Lyon and ENTPE.
The students also benefited from a collaboration with the H2O’Lyon laboratory, focusing on issues relating to water, sustainable cities and the environment.
Through SURE, the Lyon Saint-Eienne Engineering Alliance is thus reaffirming its ambition to offer international experiences based on the complementary strengths of its institutions, their scientific expertise and their networks of partners.
This first edition marks a new stage in the development of international engineering education within the Lyon–Saint-Étienne region.