Supinfo
The "École Supérieure d'Informatique" (ESI), also called SUPINFO since 2001 is a private establishment of French higher education in general Computer Science that was created in 1965 and has been accredited by the French State since 10 January 1972.
Over a five year period SUPINFO trains ICT professionals who can work in IT companies upon completion of their courses. They are then issued a diploma which is registered by the French State as a level 1 national professional certificate.
History
ESI was founded in 1965 by Léo Rozentalis, a "Supélec" engineer who views computer science as a field of study in its own right.
The school is a non-profit making organisation in accordance with a law of 1901.
The school was facing difficulties and was bought by a former student, Alick Mouriesse, in 1999. He bought the SUPINFO trademark which has been used by ESI since 2001.
SUPINFO has been working since 2001 with the Martinique Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIM) to create the first engineering school in the French West Indies offering training identical to that in Paris. The "SUPINFO Caribbean" project was created in 2002 with the Reunion Island Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIR) and SUPINFO Indian Ocean received its first students when it opened in 2004-2005.
Since 2002 SUPINFO has signed agreements in Paris with three Chinese Universities to create three SUPINFO schools in China within the Computer Science faculties of universities from several regions in partnership with the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China. The students follow a course which is predominantly in English but they study French as well (8 hours per week) and at the end of the course, they are issued with the same qualification as the Parisian students.
In 2004, in partnership with the Alsace Regional Council, SUPINFO Alsace (in Strasbourg) became the seventh SUPINFO school.
In 2005-2006, 7 new regional sites were opened in France (Bordeaux, Mâcon, Nice, Nîmes, Saint-Malo, Troyes and Valenciennes) making a total of 14 SUPINFO schools.
2006-2007 has seen the creation of 5 new regional sites in France (Caen, Grenoble, Nantes, Toulouse and Tours) as well as the opening of SUPINFO UK in London and SUPINFO Canada in [[Montreal}}.
2007-2008 will see the opening of 6 new sites (Clermont-Ferrand, Lille, Limoges, Lyon, Marseille, and Orléans) in France and the fourth school in Peking, China. The site of SUPINFO Languedoc-Roussilllon in Nîmes will be relocated and set up in Montpellier.
The total number of SUPINFO sites is 28.
In 2007 SUPINFO had 4700 alumni and more than 4500 students registered for the academic year.
The international development of SUPINFO will continue world-wide with the opening of sites in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Dubai, Brazil, Costa Rica and Russia.
Studies
The study program is modelled on French engineering schools at the preparatory level: two years of integrated preparation classes (PS1 and PS2), then three years of engineering cycle (IS1, IS2 and IS3), all followed by internship programmes in companies. Every year, the preparatory and engineering cycle levels finish with a compulsory internship of three months (six months in the last year).
All the 28 schools deliver the same certificate (from Paris), which allow the students to move from one geographical site to another if they wish to. It is also possible to attend courses in a different school within the group in their final year.
The training covers all areas of IT.
Admission requirements are Baccalaureat S, STI ou STL.
Admission can also be made during the BAC+1, BAC+2 and BAC+3 levels after further education in Computer Science.
Student members of the SUPINFO laboratories (Microsoft, .NET, Apple, Linux, Sun Microsystems, Oracle Corporation, Cisco, IBM, Computer Security, Management and Web development) regularly publish articles and research on the websites of other laboratories which are accessible for other students from different schools as well as for various companies.
Certificates
SUPINFO is not a CTI engineering school. It thus delivers a certificate in five years with no relation to the CTI engineering certificate. The training is validated by a professional IT and IS certificate, registered by a departmental order within the National Certification Committee and Register (RNCP), after the decision of the National Certification Commission (CNCP), at Level 1 of a scale established in 1969 depending upon the level of responsibility within a company. The SUPINFO program of study allows you to obtain a European Master of Science Degree delivered by the European Accreditation Board for Higher Education, a private institution which gathers public and private schools within Europe and aims to facilitate exchange programmes amongst them. In 2007 the school is creating two International Masters of Science in partnership with SUPINFO UK in London and SUPINFO Canada in Montreal, one in Networking Systems and the other in Business Intelligence. In addition to the certificate delivered by the school, all SUPINFO students will obtain official professional certificates from Microsoft, Oracle Corporation, Cisco, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Mandriva or Apple. SUPINFO also offers a centre for continuous vocational training and preparing certifications in IT: the SUPINFO Training Centre.
Training costs
The training costs are the same in all the SUPINFO sites and amount to €4990 per year. Recognised by the French State, SUPINFO accepts scholarship students from CROUS. They represent more than 32% of all registered students. In addition, the school offers more than 100 internal scholarships every year.
Alumni
SUPINFO currently has over 4700 alumni.
The following are SUPINFO graduates:
- Marc Simoncini (1984), founder of iFrance and Meetic.
- Christophe Job (1988), Vice President of Development Applications with Oracle Corporation.
- Richard Ramos (1988), Director of Education & Research with Apple Inc. in France.
- Tristan Nitot (1989), founder of Mozilla Europe.
- Eryk Markiewicz (1989), Marketing Director of EMEA with Business Objects.
- Frédéric Simottel (1992), Editor in chief at 01 Informatique.
- Erik Dasque (1996), former product-manager for the Mono project with Novell, current director of engineering for BzzAgent.
- Frank Denis (1999), Creator of the software Pure-FTPd, metalog, currently with Skyrock.
- Mitsuru Furuta (2003), in charge of technical support within the division of .Net at Microsoft
International partners
- Napier University (Edinburgh, UK)
- Towson University (Baltimore, Maryland, USA)
- Oxford Brookes University (Oxford, UK)