Mission and Vision

The Collège des Ingénieurs has the mission to best prepare carefully selected young graduate engineers and scientists for economic, entrepreneurial, and international challenges.

Become an Impactful Leader of Tomorrow

We believe engineers and scientists should play a decisive role in shaping our world's future. Technology will play a big part in that future, but it won't drive change on its own. To be successful, you will need leadership and strategic thinking skills.

The mission of Collège des Ingénieurs is to prepare carefully selected young graduate engineers and scientists to tackle economic, entrepreneurial, and international challenges.

Our tailored management programme presents the diverse perspectives of selected senior academics and practitioners with exceptional leadership backgrounds who mentor and challenge our MBA Fellows.

Embedded in a European innovation ecosystem, we enable our MBA Fellows to work on a dedicated company mission, where they interact with senior management and develop an entrepreneurial mindset essential for success in leading corporations.

To complete this unique learning experience, we build a peer group of top young European professionals as part of a lifelong community that will foster your professional and personal growth.

Admission to the programme is merit-based. The Collège covers the tuition fees for the MBA programme and pays a salary to all admitted Fellows.

»The old world was made of talents. The present world is even more made of talents. And the future world, even more so. [...] Because the merging of technologies brings a need for excellence in each of these different fields.«

Bouygues
Martin Bouygues
President @ Bouygues Group

Learning Through Action – Qui Agit Intellegit

Our educational philosophy is genuinely innovative. We believe some things can only be understood through action. This is especially true in management.

The management programme at Collège des Ingénieurs has been specially designed to take engineering and science graduates from the world's top universities or Grandes Écoles and prepare them for the most responsible positions in the business world – through practical and conceptual theory. It is based on the "Learning through Action" concept: MBA seminars at the Collège alternate with phases in a dedicated company mission.

»In the future, we need managers from Collège who think internationally and work with an interdisciplinary approach. Then even the highest goals can be achieved.«

Edig
Prof. Thomas Edig
Managing Director of Human Resources and Organization @ Volkswagen Sachsen

The 'College' ethos

In terms of educational theory, the 'College' concept breaks free from the conventional, rigidly structured teaching process, which constrains participants to a pre-determined academic curriculum.

The College ethos creates a place of freedom, made possible by the quality and small number of participants. It is a place of hungry minds which require tolerance and a range of special expertise – essential ingredients for a fertile environment that will encourage critical but creative individuals – and a place of sharing between major decision-makers and young talents.

It is a spirit that drives all the great European colleges such as the Ecole Normale Supérieure and, of course, Oxford and Cambridge Colleges.

»The experience with the Collège des Ingénieurs has always been outstanding over the years of collaboration, thanks to the maturity of the programme and the ability of these young potentials to face challenges in different contexts.«

Boromei Paola
Paola Boromei
Former Chief People & Organization Officer @ Snam, Pirelli board member

The Collège des Ingénieurs in a Nutshell

The Collège des Ingénieurs is an independent multinational institution for post-graduate education founded in 1986 in partnership with leading corporations in Europe and the world. It is based in Paris, Munich, and Turin.

Being 100% financed by industry, the Collège offers a unique European learning environment with strong professional links to the business world to best prepare carefully selected engineering and science graduates for a career in management.

History of the Collège des Ingénieurs

1985

Pre-founding

Pre-founding advisory committee is created with Jean Peyrelevade as chairman.

1986

Foundation

The Collège des Ingénieurs is founded by Philippe Mahrer, director.

Sep. 1986

First Cohort of Students

September welcomes the first class of the Collège des Ingénieurs.

1987

The First Company Chair

Creation of the first company chair by Jacques Pericchi (Strategy of Human Resources, Air Liquide).

1990

COPERNIC Programme

With the support of the French Président de la République, the COPERNIC Programme (for Central and Eastern European graduates) is created, in cooperation with the French Ministry for Foreign Affaires, Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (Science Po), Ecole des Mines de Paris, Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées.

1991

First Paris HQ

The Collège settles at 49, rue de l’Université, Paris.

1992

Accreditation of Actuary Programme

Creation of the Actuary Programme, accredited by the French Actuary Institute.

1993

New Partnership

Partnership with the Université de Marne la Vallée (master's degree in applied mathematics for insurance).

1994

CDI-China

Creation of the CDI-China programme, with the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China.

1994

Copernic Alumni Association

First general meeting of the Copernic Alumni Association in Budapest.

1996

CDI in Germany

Foundation of the Collège des Ingénieurs in Germany (Stuttgart) by Knut Stannowski with the support of the presidential office of the Land Baden-Württemberg.

1998

Growing Network

The Collège now boasts more than 500 Alumni.

2000

Agreement with Studienstiftung

Start of the collaboration with the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes.

2000

Creation of Marco Polo Programme

Creation of the first in-company top executive programme : the Marco Polo Programme, Executive programme of Bouygues Construction.

2002

New Intake Opportunity

Opening of a second intake for Fellows in January.

2003

CDI in Switzerland

Opening of an agency in Switzerland (St. Gallen).

2005

German Alumni

First annual German Alumni meeting in Baden-Baden, creation of the Association of German Alumni (Collège des Ingénieurs Alumni Deutschland e.V.), with Dr. Marc Fischer (CDI 2003) as the first president.

2006

Participation in French Ministry Reforms Commission

The Collège participates in the Hetzel Commission (French Government Commission for the reforms of the French universities).

2006

20th Anniversary

The Collège celebrates its 20th anniversary (and its 1000th graduate). The CDI principles are published in the 20th edition of the yearbook.

2007

New Cooperation in Germany

Cooperation with TU9, the association of the leading German technical universities.

2008

CDI Germany Moves to München

Opening of the München office in Germany.

2009

Initiation of S&M Programme

Signing of a new agreement with UPMC, Sorbonne Université and KIT.

2009

CDI Italia is Founded in Torino

Decision to create a new Foundation for excellence in education in cooperation with leading Italian foundations.
The creation of the Alta Scuola di Formazione al Management (CDI-Italia) with the support of this new Foundation.

2009

CDI Moves to a New Loaction in Paris

The Collège moves into its new site in Paris at 215 Boulevard St. Germain.

2011

Survey on French Universities

The Collège carries out an extensive and national survey on French corporate universities.

2012

Agreement with ICM

The Collège signs an agreement for a scientific partnership with the Brain and Spine Institute (ICM: l'Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière) which is one of the largest European neuroscience research centers.

2013

Debut Graduation of the Science and Management Ph.D. Programme

The first cohort of the Science and Management programme graduate and the cohort instantly find high-ranking jobs.

2014

Science and Management expands

Development of the »Science and Management« programme which becomes »Sciences, Human Sciences and Management« and is now open to Ph.D. students from the Sorbonne (Paris IV).

2015

20th Graduation at CDI Germany

Graduation at the French Embassy in Berlin for the 20th class of Fellows.

2015

Debut of Brain to Market Summer School

First edition of the annual Brain to Market Summer School in partnership with the Brain and Spine Institute.

2015

Milestone of Growth: 100 Fellows per Year

The 10-month MBA programme is now made up of more than 100 Fellows each year (sites in Paris, München and Torino).

2016

Partnership with Agoranov

Partnership agreement with Agoranov to co-incubate technology start-ups.

2016

Innovation for Change (I4C)

First edition of the Innovation for Change programme, partnership between CERN, Politecnico di Torino and CDI Italia: creation of startups with high societal impact.

2016

2000 Graduated Fellows

2000th graduate from the MBA programme at the Collège des Ingénieurs.

2017

Launch of Digital Lectures

The Digital Lectures becomes an integral part of the MBA.

2017

Graduation in Turin

The graduation ceremony takes place in Torino for the first time.

2017

SAFM becomes CDI Italia

Scuola de Alta Formazione al Management (SAFM) becomes CDI Italia.

2018

SEI in Turin

Inauguration in Turin of the School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (SEI) and its 4 programmes: Explorer (for bachelor students), Pioneer (to initiate the creation of DeepTech), Change (projects with strong societal impact) and Inventor (prototype development).

2019

Renewal of Partnership with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology

The CDI-China programme, established in 1994, facilitates the exchange of Chinese scientists and engineers with the Collège des Ingénieurs in France, Germany, and Italy.

2019

Partnership with Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna

Partnership with Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna broadens the Science & Management programme on a European level to top scientists in Italy.

2020

Partnership with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa

Partnership with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa broadens the Science & Management programme on a European level to top scientists in Italy.

2022

Start of Seminar »Functioning of the Administration and the Public Service«

... in the MBA programme

2022

François Jackow (CDI 1993) becomes CEO @ Air Liquide

First Alumnus becomes CEO of a CAC40 company.

2022

Elisabeth Borne (CDI 1987) becomes French Prime Minister

Elisabeth Borne serves as French Prime Minister from May 2022 to January 2024.

2022

Lars Wagner (CDI 2003) becomes CEO @ MTU Aero Engines AG

First Alumnus becomes CEO of a DAX company.

2023

100th Graduate of Science and Management Programme

Science and Management combines a scientific PhD with the MBA at Collège.

2024

Foundation of European Leadership Center Heilbronn gGmbH

With the support of Dieter Schwarz Foundation and in cooperation with TUM Heilbronn we develop new leadership formats for the digital age.