The FIEEC CARNOT Prize for Applied Research celebrated its 10th edition this year. On November 18th, on the occasion of the Rendez-vous Carnot 2020, the digital ceremony for the FIEEC CARNOT Prize for Applied Research 2020 was held. Two joint winners were distinguished, Nicolas Sabouret and Violaine Lamoureux-Var, rewarded for their respective work in connection with an SME, with a real impact in terms of turnover growth and job creation.
For Joseph Puzo, Vice-President of the FIEEC in charge of innovation :
“In an economic crisis, it is better to fight through innovation than through lower prices, and this is particularly true for an SME. This is the observation we made during the 2009 crisis. And this led us to create this Prize, which aims to bring the two worlds, that of the SME and that of academic research, closer together.
From artificial intelligence to geochemical rock analysis methods
The 2 ex aequo prizes were awarded this year to Mr Nicolas Sabouret and Mrs Violaine Lamoureux-Var.
Intelligent and sensitive smartbots
Nicolas Sabouret, from the Carnot Cognition Institute, (Limsi Laboratory – University of Paris-Saclay) collaborated with the SME Davi (20 people, in Puteaux), a software publisher that develops and markets an artificial intelligence platform dedicated to animated conversational agents (smartbots).
This partnership focused on the creation of smartbots with a better understanding of user demands, more robust dialogue systems and by integrating a socio-affective dimension allowing conversational agents to simulate emotions and personality. Nicolas Sabouret’s contribution has thus improved customer relations and the user experience with these conversational agents.
Accompanying the marketing of Rock-Eval® 7S
Violaine Lamoureux-Var, from the Carnot Institute IFPEN Ressources Energétiques has collaborated with the SME Vinci Technologies (76 people, in Nanterre + subsidiaries in the USA and India), designer and manufacturer of instrumentation and equipment for the oil industry.
This partnership aimed to develop new methods of analysis and interpretation, and to validate equipment for the geochemical analysis of rock samples (Rock-Eval 7S), which can be used for oil exploration and for soil analysis (fertility, role of soils in climate regulation).
“Research for business innovation”, adds Philippe Véron, President of the Association of Carnot Institutes, “is our slogan, our DNA and it is therefore quite natural that we have joined forces with the FIEEC to create this Prize. To my knowledge, it is the only prize that rewards researchers from public laboratories for their R&D work with SME-ETI”.
Bernard Bismuth, President of the Rodin Club, a think tank of the FIEEC, and co-founder of the Prize, underlined :
“When this Prize was created, ten years ago, it stood out in the landscape and I remember the first winner who said: I never thought I would receive a prize, as a researcher, for helping to create jobs! ».
Translated from Nicolas Sabouret, lauréat du Prix FIEEC CARNOT de la recherche appliquée
