This Inter­na­tio­nal Mixed Research Unit (to use the CNRS acro­nym UMI) exem­pli­fies the bila­te­ral scien­ti­fic coope­ra­tion being deve­lo­ped bet­ween France and Mexi­co and pro­vides a res­ponse adap­ted to the need to build new net­works of part­ners such as the uni­ver­si­ties, indus­trial labo­ra­to­ries … It is an ope­ra­tio­nal struc­ture for research and trai­ning acti­vi­ties, com­pri­sing research scien­tists, lec­tu­rers, stu­dents, post-docs with an ope­ra­tio­nal mode somew­hat simi­lar to that of a UMR in France (joint research units).

Description

The first mixed Franco-Mexican international unit

The Fran­co-Mexi­can Labo­ra­to­ry for Com­pu­ter Science and Auto­ma­tic Control Sys­tems (LAFMIA), the first Inter­na­tio­nal Mixed Research Unit (UMI) of the CNRS, in a part­ner­ship with the GIP­SA-lab and the Mexi­can natio­nal Research Centre (CINVESTAV), was crea­ted in 2008 after a mer­ger of two Inter­na­tio­nal Asso­ciate labo­ra­to­ries (LIA), the LAFMAA (auto­ma­tic control sys­tems) and LAFMI (com­pu­ter sciences). LAFMO covers both ICTs and com­pu­ter science engi­nee­ring. The topics addres­sed are image pro­ces­sing, robo­tics and com­mu­ni­ca­tion, bio-com­pu­ting, data bases and networks …

LAFMAA results from a co-ope­ra­tion agree­ment that goes back to the ear­ly 1960s. The research results are embo­died in appli­ca­tions to be found in mecha­ni­cal engi­nee­ring, trans­por­ta­tion, ener­gy and the envi­ron­ment via drin­king water dis­tri­bu­tion and agriculture.

This UMI reports simul­ta­neous­ly to the INS2I (Ins­ti­tut des sciences de l'information et de leurs inter­ac­tions) the CNRS, the CINVESTAV (Centre de recherche et d'études avan­cées de l'Institut poly­tech­nique natio­nal) and to the CONACYT.

3 uni­ver­si­ties are joint asso­ciates, coor­di­na­ting where nee­ded, the work and management:

• UTC,
• the Gre­nobles Poly­tech­nic Ins­ti­tute,
• the uni­ver­si­ty Joseph Fou­rier.

LAFMIA is hou­sed at the CINVESTAV in Mexi­co and also has pre­mises within the Uni­ver­si­ty of the Amé­ri­cas in Pue­bla.

LAFMIA research scien­tists are dee­ply com­mit­ted to both natio­nal pro­jects in France and in Mexi­co, as well as being invol­ved in inter­na­tio­nal pro­jects. They contri­bute to defi­ning gene­ral, adap­table solu­tions that can be put to use in large-scale indus­trial contexts, in Mexi­co and in France.

Thanks to a high level inter­ac­tion among com­pa­nies, research centres and the uni­ver­si­ties, LAFMIA is in a posi­tion to enrich Fran­co-Mexi­can rela­tion­ships in areas of mutual inter­est for both the French and Euro­pean com­mu­ni­ties, contri­bu­ting acti­ve­ly to inno­va­tive pro­jects and indus­trial deve­lop­ment schemes.

Staff at LAFMOA also par­ti­ci­pate in the Master's degree and PhD pro­grammes offe­red in Mexi­co and in France. They contri­bute to trai­ning for stu­dents doing co-super­vi­sed work and belon­ging to French or Mexi­can universities.

Research themes

The research work at the UMI focuses on com­pu­ter sciences and auto­ma­tic control sys­tems and espe­cial­ly in the field of robo­tics. The lab is acti­ve­ly stu­dying drones and minia­ture sub­ma­rines as well as on the the­ma­tic of exo-ske­le­tons either to streng­then a limb, or to back up and com­pen­sate for a weakness.

On all the above-men­tio­ned themes, the UMI teams also col­la­bo­rate with the LRMM, Mont­pel­lier (Com­pu­ter sciences, robo­tics and micro-elec­tro­nics) and with the École natio­nale supé­rieure de tech­niques avan­cées (an engi­nee­ring school for advan­ced stu­dies), Brit­ta­ny, France.

Contact and documentation

Contacts de la recherche à l'UTC

Direc­teur du Laf­mia

Roge­lio Loza­no

 +33 (0)3 44 23 44 23

rlozano@hds.utc.fr

À lire dans Interactions

Par­ti­ci­per à la chaîne des valeurs

Sou­te­nir la dyna­mique étudiante

Le cercle ver­tueux et syner­gique des partenariats

• Sport élite : Mathieu, escrimeur
• Star­tup UTC : Frylift
• Les RDV de l’IA – table ronde : enjeux éco­no­miques et sociaux de l’IA dans le transport