On the morning of August 29, 2024, Sino-French Engineer School held a meeting with the new French director and all the teaching staff in Conference Room 413 of No.2 Teaching Building on Xueyuan Road Campus. Zhao Weisheng, vice-president of Beihang University, Gilles FLEURY, general delegate of Groupe des Écoles Centrale, Frédéric GENTY, outgoing French director of Sino-French Engineer School, Adnane BOUKAMEL, new French director of Sino-French Engineer School, Mariem KACEM BOUREAU, French vice-director of Sino-French Engineer School, Weng Jingnong, director of Beihang University's international cooperation department, Zhang Jiang, secretary of the Party Committee of Sino-French Engineer School, Luo Hongbin, Chinese director of Sino-French Engineer School, Wang Min and Yin Chuantao, vice-directors of Sino-French Engineer School, Xu Gao'nan, vice-secretary of the Party Committee of Sino-French Engineer School, as well as all the school's Chinese and French teachers were present. The meeting was chaired by Zhang Jiang, secretary of the Party Committee of Sino-French Engineer School.
The new French director and all the teaching staff attended the meeting.
Gilles FLEURY said he was delighted to return to Sino-French Engineer School after more than two months. He introduced Adnane BOUKAMEL, the new French director of Sino-French Engineer School, and the selection process for the new French director on behalf of Groupe des Écoles Centrale. Adnane BOUKAMEL, the professor, holds dual citizenship in France and Morocco. He has extensive knowledge of the administration and functioning of École Centrale de Casablanca, having served as vice-president of the institution. In addition, he has experience working with École Centrale Marseille and is knowledgeable about the growth of CentraleSupélec and École Centrale Lille. Furthermore, Adnane BOUKAMEL has mentored students through research projects and is a highly qualified researcher in his field, according to Gilles FLEURY.
Luo Hongbin expressed his gratitude to the outgoing French director, Mr. Frédéric GENTY. He pointed out that Mr. Frédéric GENTY is a gentleman with cheerful personality, great enthusiasm for work, and positive pioneering and enterprising. Despite the short time working with Mr. Frédéric GENTY, both parties have made a series of outstanding achievements, such as making the institute ranked first in the excellent cases of Chinese-foreign cooperative education, and successfully organizing the Sino-French Education Development Forum in Paris, France on 21 June and the Forum and Exhibition on High-Quality Development of Sino-French Cooperative Education in Beijing, China, from 29th to 30th, further enhancing the school's image. Luo Hongbin wished Mr. Frédéric GENTY every success in Hangzhou and invited him to return often to the school for advice and exchanges in the future. Luo Hongbin welcomed Mr. Adnane BOUKAMEL, the new French director. He said that Mr. Adnane BOUKAMEL was an outstanding engineer and teacher as well as an experienced administrator, and expressed his wish to work with him on the basis of mutual respect, cooperation and consultation.
There are three days left, according to Mr. Frederic Genty, before he leaves the Sino-French Engineer School to begin his duties in Hangzhou. He still clearly remembers his first visit to the school in 2017 to begin his duties. He got butterflies in his stomach as he succeeded Gilles FLEURY, the school's French director at the time. However, as Luo Hongbin noted, he gained a lot of friends and coworkers here, and the school has since grown to represent another home to him. At the time of parting, he felt very heavy hearted and reluctant to part, but Hangzhou is not far away from here, and he hoped to have the opportunity to reunite. At the same time, he pointed out that since 2017, with the joint efforts of all the leaders and teachers, the school has made many remarkable achievements and set a model of Sino-French cooperation in the field of education, for which he expressed his joy and gratitude and wished the school more achievements in the future. He expressed that he would hand over the work with the new French director, Prof. Adnane BOUKAMEL, and believed that the new French director would be able to make more achievements with the sincere cooperation of the Chinese and French management teams and teachers.
The new French director and all the teaching staff attended the meeting.
Zhang Jiang expressed his gratitude to Mr. Frédéric GENTY for his contribution to the school's development. He said it had been a pleasure to work with Mr. Frédéric GENTY over the past four years, and wished him every success in Hangzhou. He welcomed Mr. Adnane BOUKAMEL, the new French director, whose arrival coincided with that of the international students and the new postgraduate students.
Professor Adnane BOUKAMEL said he was very touched by the speeches of the leaders here and expressed his gratitude for the welcome extended to him, as well as his determination to live up to everyone's trust and expectations, and to continue working hard to meet even greater challenges. He briefly outlined his professional experience. He has been a teacher and researcher at École Centrale Marseille, and is also an engineer. He obtained his doctorate in aeronautical mechanics in France, which is perfectly suited to the characteristics and advantages of Beihang University. After leaving Marseille, he started work at École Centrale de Casablanca in Morocco, until he became vice-president of École Centrale de Casablanca and gained further management experience. From France to Morocco, his research and management work has never ceased, and it's a surprise and a challenge for him to be able to work at Sino-French Engineer School. He looks forward to cooperating with Luo Hongbin, the school's Chinese director, and the entire staff to combine Beihang University's cutting-edge higher education experience with Groupe des Écoles Centrale's quintessential engineering training, and to contribute to the school's development.
Weng Jingnong congratulated Professor Adnane BOUKAMEL on his appointment as French director, and wished Mr. Frédéric GENTY all the best in his new role in Hangzhou. He said that over the years, he had witnessed the school's development, and that the three French directors of the school present here represented the transmission, a transmission that has enabled the school to overcome one difficulty after another and achieve a series of accomplishments. He pointed out that not long ago, Beihang University completed an analysis of the internationalization development index of each faculty, and that Sino-French Engineer School ranked among the top. He thanked the school for its contribution to the internationalization of the university, the training of more and more Chinese and French engineers, and expressed his sincere expectation for cooperation in engineering education between China and France.
Group photo of participating directors
To conclude the meeting, Zhao Weisheng, vice-president of Beihang University, gave a speech. He emphasized that it was a great pleasure to witness the succession of the three French directors, and an important day for both Sino-French Engineer School and Beihang University. On behalf of Beihang University, he expressed his gratitude for the support given by Groupe des Écoles Centrale to the foundation and operation of Sino-French Engineer School. Over the past twenty years, the two parties have worked hand in hand and cooperated sincerely to promote the development of Sino-French Engineer School of Beihang University, and Sino-French Engineer School represents the friendship between France and China. According to him, Mr. Frédéric GENTY, who has held the position of French director of the school for seven years, has made an outstanding contribution to the school and became the only teacher to have been received by both the Secretary General and the Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China. He expressed his gratitude to all of the present instructors, saying that because of their commitment and hard work, Sino-French Engineer School has produced over 1,000 outstanding engineers who have learned French and Chinese science and culture, fostering Sino-French friendship and collaboration. The school is now the university's pride. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France as well as the 20th anniversary of the school's founding, he hoped that the Chinese and French managements would continue to conduct in-depth cooperation under the direction of Mr. Adnane BOUKAMEL, the new French director, in order to maintain the school's advantages, expand its scale, and make the school a model of sino-french educational institutions. He declared that the university would fully support the work of Mr. Adnane BOUKAMEL, support the school's development and take cooperation to a new level. Finally, he pointed out that after 20 years of cooperation between Beihang University and Groupe des Écoles Centrale, both parties had gone from being friends to family members, and he hoped that Mr. Adnane BOUKAMEL would feel at home in the school and fall in love with the school and Beihang University.
Group photo of all staff
