Institut polytechnique des sciences avancées

The **Institut polytechnique des sciences avancées**, often called **IPSA**, is a private aeronautical university localized next to Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse in France, in the Île-de-France and Midi-Pyrénées,
The university is part of IONIS Education Group and has been created in 1961.

### 1965 - 1999

IPSA was founded in 1961 in Paris by Michel Cazin (private secretary to Louis de Broglie and teacher at the mechanical department of _Conservatoire national des arts et métiers_), Maurice Pradier (aerospace engineer) and Paul Lefort (engineer and professor of helicopter). Twenty students started the training. At that time, the course was in four years and the first promotion is graduated in 1965. The same year, the Alumni association is created in Paris by Maurice Ribonnet. In 1982, the first trip for students is organized in Guyana at the European Space Agency center. The year 1987 saw the university bought by Henri Hertert (IPSA 1976 and pilot at Air France). The institute moved in 1989 into the towers _Les Mercuriales_ at Bagnolet, in which it stayed for ten years. Then, beset by financial difficulties, the university is bought by IONIS Education Group in 1999 and moved at Le Kremlin-Bicêtre close to the university EPITA.

### 1999 - today

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In 2005, the Master issued by IPSA is recognized by French State at the higher level, after accreditation by the _Commission nationale de la certification professionnelle_. The year 2006 sees the institute hosting the 6th European Congress of the Mars Society to promote the exploration of Mars. In 2007, IPSA opens a second campus in Toulouse, joins the Erasmus programme and concludes double degree agreements with foreign universities. Following its establishment in Toulouse, the university joins the _Institut au service du spatial, de ses applications et technologies_ during the year 2008. The next year, IPSA joins Aerospace Valley and moved in Ivry-sur-Seine close to the university ESME-Sudria, before being recognized by the French State in 2010.

In 2011, the university is accredited by the _Commission des titres d'ingénieur_. In January 2013, IPSA became member of the _Conférence des directeurs des écoles françaises d'ingénieurs_.

### History of directors

The current director is Anne-Ségolène Abscheidt, who is also vice-president of _Ingénieurs et scientifiques de France_. This is the tenth person to hold that function since 1961. She was appointed director of IPSA in June 2023.

|Name||Years|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Michel Cazin, Maurice Pradier and Paul Lefort|1961 to 1987||
|Henri Herter|1987 to 1998||
|Guy Robin|1998 to 1999||
|Aimé Merran|1999 to 2009||
|Hervé Renaudeau|2009 to 2016||
|Francis Pollet|2017 to 2022||
|Valérie Cornetet|2022 to 2023||
|Anne-Ségolène Abscheidt|Since 2023||

## Governance

Member of IONIS Education Group, the group President, assisted by a general manager, is the President of the university. He is a member of the four directorates of the university:
- Development and international relations directorate which also managed the communication and admissions ;
- Training directorate with a manager for the Bachelor cycle and another one for the Master cycle ;
- Corporate relations directorate ;
- Research and quality directorate.

### Curriculum

IPSA wants to be close to other universities with a strong theoretical training for research and development jobs in order to graduate engineer in aeronautical and space engineering with a good general knowledge in aerospace.
The course is in five years with five possibilities in the fourth year: "energy, spacecraft propulsion and engine", "mechanics and aircraft structure", "telecommunications, radar and radio navigation", "embedded system", "mechatronics". The students choose also one minor from ten: "Entrepreneurship", "business marketing", "association management", "Research Management", "Conduct of an international project", "project personnel development", "Board and consulting", " human resource management", "cultural management", "financial management".

In the fifth year, four options are available independently of the choice made in the fourth year: "Avionics", "Aeronautical Systems Design", " Space Systems Design" and "Management and Industrial Logistics".

The particularity of the university is to offer from the first year lessons relating to aeronautics in addition to basic scientific education and to provide a large part in project-based teaching throughout the curriculum.
Students also have the opportunity to attend a technical and managerial course sanctioned by a Master of Business Administration in "business and international negotiation" of the _Institut supérieur de gestion_ in addition to the diploma of the university, or to make the last year of studies in a foreign university in partnership with IPSA. Eleven months of internship are planned in the curriculum.

After graduation, graduates are represented by the association _AAEIPSA_ (IPSA Alumni association). They work, for 70% of them, in the aerospace industry, mainly in research and development (46%) and in the Île-de-France region (57%).

Admission to the university is possible after a _Baccalauréat_ by succeeding to the competition "Advance" organized in partnership with EPITA and ESME-Sudria. In total, the three universities offer approximately 900 places. It is also possible to integrate the university in the second, third or fourth year studies for students coming from a two-years degree after the _Baccalauréat_, Bachelor or Master.

Since 2017, IPSA has also some Bachelor's degree program in aerospace.

### International relations

Partnerships allowing students to obtain a Master of Science with the degree of IPSA exist with Shenyang University in China, Cranfield University in UK, Moscow State University in Russia, the _Université Laval_ in Canada and the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan.

Students can also use the Erasmus programme.

The university has also other partnerships with Arizona State University, San Diego State University, University of California at Davis and Monash University.

### Research activities

Research at IPSA is realized in 2011 by three laboratories : 3D computer graphics - calculation, mechatronics and fluid mechanics applied to aerodynamics.

The laboratory of 3D computer graphics and calculation creating new algorithms to solve problems of processing and analysis of signals and images. It works in partnership with the _laboratoire des signaux et systèmes_ (L2S) (signals and systems laboratory) (agreement signed in 2010), a laboratory of the French National Centre for Scientific Research based at _Supélec_.

_IPS'action_ association has launched in 2006 the « UNIV'air » challenge in order to present to people research projects in partnership with the _Association Aéronautique et Astronautique de France_ and other universities such as the _École nationale supérieure de l'aéronautique et de l'espace_ or EPF.

In 2008, an aircraft without pilot project named « Hélitronix » and realized by students and researchers of the mechatronics laboratory was selected during the « _Minidrone_ » challenge funded by the General Directorate for Armament and organized by the _Office National d'Études et de Recherches Aérospatiales_. The same laboratory works on the « Perseus project » which consists of the development of rockets from the _Centre national d'études spatiales_, in partnership with « _AéroIPSA_ » student association.

Moreover, IPSA participates to « _ASTech Paris Région_ ». It contributes at its development in many sectors : aircraft engine, onboard energy, aircraft design, material, training and research, and maintenance.

In November 2011, the  fluid mechanics applied to aerodynamics laboratory created in 2009 has adopted a new calculation tool allowing for the end of 2011 the commissioning of a digital wind tunnel.

### Alumni

Several managers have studied at the university, like Cyril Bourlon de Rouvre (1965), French businessman and politician, Philippe Harache (1976), former Executive Vice-President "customers" Eurocopter, Christian Gras (1983), Executive Vice-President "customers" Eurocopter or  Éric Boullier (1999), Team principal McLaren.
Stéphane Gaillard (1997), Technical Assistant to Vice President development flight test Airbus, Gilles de Richemond (1997), head of IT of AccorHotels, Julien Simon-Chautemps (2002), race Engineer Marcus Ericsson Sauber, Nicolas Tenoux (2007), airline pilot and manager, and Maxime Cadé (2018), Fencer, are also alumni of IPSA.

### Teachers and former teachers

- Denis Maricourt, general knowledge teacher and author of _Figures de l'éclectisme dans la seconde moitié du XVIIIe siècle_ (Figures of eclecticism in the second half of the eighteenth century).

## Related pages

- IONIS Education Group

## Further reading

- Lucien Robineau (dir.), _Les Français du ciel : Dictionnaire historique, Paris_, le cherche midi, 2005, 782 p. (), p. 628
- André Turcat, _Pilote d'essais : Mémoires II_, Paris, le cherche midi, 2009, 199 p. (), p. 197
- Ginibrière Gaëlle, _IPSA : 50 ans avec l'aéronautique_, _L'Express Emploi_, 15th of June 2009
- GIFAS, _Une formation pour un métier dans l'industrie aéronautique et spatiale_, Paris, 2011, 62 p., p. 46
- AAEIPSA, _Annuaire 2011 - 50 ans d'histoire_, Paris, 2011, 412 p.
- Mariama Diallo, _L'IPSA, école d'ingénieurs aéronautique depuis 1961 _, _Le Journal de l'aviation_, 24th of April 2012
- Nicolas Tenoux (IPSA 2007), _6 mois dans la vie d’un Pilote de ligne: Les secrets du quotidien..._, 15 April 2020, Amazon, 51p., (), p. 10
- Nicolas Tenoux (IPSA 2007), _6 months in the life of an Airline pilot: Daily life secrets …_, 5 October 2020, Amazon, 77p., (), p. 10
- _Le futur de l'avion : Les prochains défis de l’industrie aéronautique_, Ivry-sur-Seine, FYP Éditions, 2020, 160 p. ()

## Other websites

- Official website
- IPSA Alumni

## Infobox (university)

- **image**: Bâtiment Campus IPSA Paris à Ivry-sur-Seine - novembre 2025.jpg
- **name**: **Institut Polytechnique des Sciences Avancées**
- **motto**: L'air, l'espace, l'IPSA
- **mottoeng**: The air, the space, the IPSA
- **established**: 1961
- **type**: aerospace engineering university
- **head label**: Director-General
- **head**: Anne-Ségolène Abscheidt
- **city**: Ivry-sur-Seine, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse
- **country**: France
- **coor**: 48° 48′ 49″ N 2° 23′ 33″ E
- **nickname**: IPSA
- **students**: 2188 <small>(in 2022)</small>
- **staff**: 160 <small>(in 2015)</small>
- **campus**: Urban
- **colours**: Blue (color), blue, black
- **affiliations**: Association Aéronautique et Astronautique de France, 3AF, Aerospace Valley, ASTech, Conférence des directeurs des écoles françaises d'ingénieurs, CDEFI, _Concours Advance_, Elles Bougent, IONIS Education Group, ERASMUS programme, Erasmus, Institut au service du spatial, de ses applications et technologies, ISSAT
- **website**: [http://www.ipsa.fr www.ipsa.fr]