WE WILL BE THERE TOMORROW

Dassault Systèmes set up its first 3DEXPERIENCE Lab in France in 2015, and very soon expanded it into the United States and India. It now works with more than 30 startups and 15 incubator, technology and fab lab partners across the world.

The 3DEXPERIENCE Lab was designed both as an ideas laboratory and a startup accelerator, with the aim of supporting disruptive innovations that have a positive impact on society. It has also joined forces with multinational companies to accelerate promising projects in specific sectors. Its growing community of 1,200 mentors provides expertise in disciplines as diverse as design, simulation, regulation and marketing.

Since 2019, new startup incubator partners have joined the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab’s dynamic ecosystem, such as MIT Enterprise Forum CEE in Poland, Greentown Labs in the United States, Centech in Canada, OuiCrea and HAX in China, Tshimologong in South Africa, HEC business school in France and FabLab Communautique in Canada. For Frédéric Vacher, head of innovation at Dassault Systèmes, “The 3DEXPERIENCE Lab shows the power of collective intelligence, open innovation and cloud platforms in enabling disruptive innovations that align with the United Nations’ sustainable development goals”.

The 3DEXPERIENCE Lab supports the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals. Each startup project is associated with and committed to one of these goals. For example, Agreenculture designs agricultural robots, aiming to help “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”. In the healthcare sector, Damae Medical (devices to detect skin cancer), FEops (simulations for heart interventions), Gyrolift (new mobility solutions), Inali (prosthetic hands), PKvitality (bio-wearable solutions), Digital Orthopaedics, Exact Cure and Gyrolift aim to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”, while Leka intends to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. The goal of Eel Energy and SparkCharge is to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”, while SplashElec is helping to “reduce inequality within and among countries”. XSun’s drones and XYT’s urban vehicles, meanwhile, intend to “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”.

More than 12 million people around the world have had a forearm amputation. In the last 15 years, the Ellen Meadows Prosthetic Hand Foundation has given away 50,000 LN-4s: low-cost, light, durable and functional prosthetic hands designed using pre-CAD technology.

Thanks to the generosity of its donors, the Ellen Meadows Foundation works with individuals and organizations around the world to find people who would benefit from one of these hands. The Foundation distributes its hands in three ways: through one-off events, partner organizations in individual countries, and responses to individual requests.

With the 3DEXPERIENCE for Good hackathon, Dassault Systèmes joined forces with the Ellen Meadows Foundation to upgrade the LN-4 and reinvent the way prosthetic hands are designed. The aim was to design a new model that would meet certain usage and manufacturability requirements. Although asked to focus on the technical design, participants were also asked to factor into their design the need to ship more than 1 million of the hands, free of charge, to the most distant corners of the world. The five teams consisted of designers and engineers from various backgrounds, including students, teachers and those working in industry, all recognized in their fields and supported by Dassault Systèmes experts.

Unlike traditional hackathons that take place over a weekend, the five teams of design specialists each spent 120 hours, over the space of a month, bringing their ideas to life. Using their unique skills and talents and a range of leading-edge solutions based on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, each team’s members collaborated remotely to develop their designs. The first time they met in person was to present the fruits of their labor, on February 10, 2020 at the 3DEXPERIENCE World 2020 event in Nashville, USA.

Dassault Systèmes firmly believes that virtual universes can improve real life and help create a more sustainable world. La Fondation Dassault Systèmes uses a skills-based sponsorship approach with Dassault Systèmes employees helping to train and support young people interested in science and engineering careers. Here are four examples of that collaboration, showing how it helps young people and how the employees benefit too.

The race is on

Virtual worlds can help teachers motivate students and try out new ways of learning. In 2019, for the third consecutive year, students at the Apprentis d’Auteuil school in Meudon, France, took part in the “Course en cours,” a novel educational project that gives students the chance to dream up, design, make, test and race a miniature racing car, and take part in a national competition. Dassault Systèmes employees helped these students, who have special social and educational needs, to model and build their car, as well as prepare an exhibition stand and an oral presentation. Stéphanie Tamhoua, an employee who took part in the project, explained: “Working with young people is a real challenge: it makes you question your preconceptions and forces you to think of different ways of passing on your knowledge.” David Bonner added: “I love working with teenagers in general. It's a very interesting stage of life.”

The Institut de l’Engagement works with young people who, because of their educational, cultural, social or geographical background, financial situation or disability, have difficulties developing their plans for their future. Each year, the Institute helps 300 young people aged 16 to 30 to realize their plans, such as resuming their studies or starting a business. Dassault Systèmes employees sit on the selection panel, offer mentoring to those selected and take part in the Campus de l’Engagement, a three-day event that brings together the program participants with 150 speakers from partner companies to talk, think, work and interact in a mutually enriching way. Together, they take part in workshops, round tables, talks and debates, thinking of ways to address the major economic, social and environmental challenges of today. Laurent Poinot, who sat on the selection panel and mentored an aspiring engineer, said: “When you take part in this kind of thing, you always get out more than you put in. Initiatives like this give new meaning to our day-to-day work.”

Sébastien Massart co-led a session entitled “Creating experiences: from the virtual to the real?” during the Campus de l’Engagement event, taking him out of his usual working environment to talk to a curious and engaged audience.