Open innovation: connected vests and helmets resulting from the Ortec-ICAM partnership
The Ortec Group has initiated a collaborative R&D project with the Nantes branch of ICAM (Catholic Institute of Arts and Crafts) via its technical innovation center Dantech. The goal is to design a Smart PPE (Smart Personal Protective Equipment) for Ortec operators in the field.
The Ortec Group makes the safety of its employees a priority. Their missions require the utmost vigilance to avoid any material incidents or personal injury. The Ortec Group has signed an agreement with ICAM to constantly improve the working conditions of its operators, particularly during HP and THP (high and very high pressure) operations.
As part of this partnership, the institute has assembled a team of engineers from its Business Services division to work in collaboration with Dantech, Ortec’s R&D center. The joint challenge is to develop a connected vest and helmet that will provide real-time information on the operator’s health and vital signs and optimize intervention time where necessary. The Angers University Hospital provides advice on the choice of equipment settings. Monitoring from a monitoring center is also planned.
Innovation and safety go hand in hand
“This collaboration is fully in line with our Group’s values and objectives” said Eric Eckert, Ortec‘s Technical Director. “It adds substance to our focus on safety and innovation through the involvement of our Dantech structure.” Aimed at engineering students, the initiative also echoes the “Jeunes en Or’tec” plan launched by the Group at the end of 2020, with the ambition of recruiting 550 young candidates for internships, work-study and permanent contracts.
” Our school’s project with Ortec enables us to develop a number of skills such as technical analysis of proposed solutions, performing tests, risk analysis, standardization/certification of SPII or industrial canvassing” explained the team of ICAM engineering students involved in this project, which also benefits from the support of the Center-Val-de-Loire Region.
Founded in Lille in 1898, ICAM offers its training courses in three formats (Integrated, Open, and Apprenticeship) to more than 5,000 engineering students on 6 campuses in France and 5 abroad.
