16 Jun 2025
The long-awaited official inauguration of the Lille site will remain etched in memories for a long time! Joy, sharing, and emotion were the hallmarks of this event “Together, Let’s Build the Future,” which brought together on May 22 and 23 personalities from the industrial, academic, and institutional worlds, and of course, the large Icam family: students and their loved ones, alumni and their families, campus staff and those from other Icam sites, as well as the Feron-Vrau Foundation.
The participation of all, the mobilization of students, and a top-notch organizing team, reflecting the collective momentum that has always driven Icam, made this event a great success!
A look back at these two days of sharing and celebration!
Many activities marked these two days:
– Official ceremony,
– Tours of the Business Services Hub, the research area, the production school, the FabLab,
– Presentation of the LEAN 5.0 school and the 4.0 line,
– Conferences on the environmental choices of this renovation,
– FabLab workshop, photo booth, wish tree, wine tasting… not to mention the associations’ booth, which gave a great overview of the students’ associative commitment! The Student Office had also prepared a wonderful evening for students and staff to close the inauguration.
Beautiful moments of communion also marked the event, notably the musical sharing with the Icam choir and the Lalala choir, as well as the thanksgiving mass.
Together, we celebrated, partied, and wrote this new page in the history of the Lille site and Icam!
Discover the street interviews conducted for the inauguration of the Lille site, where students, alumni, and staff share their perceptions of Icam.
A Human and Radiant Opening Ceremony
The highlight of this inauguration was the official opening ceremony held on the afternoon of Thursday, May 22 in the new Pierre-Yves Rogez multipurpose complex, bringing together nearly 450 people!
Through stories, anecdotes, testimonials, highlights of this exceptional renovation, the site’s history, and future perspectives, the speeches on stage and in the room reminded everyone how unique Icam is, with its exceptional learning environment and conditions, its commitment to training responsible engineers ready to meet tomorrow’s challenges, its industrial roots, and its Ignatian origins that place humans at the center.
“Five years here transform you,” testified Octave Klaba (99 Lille), founder of OVH, who reflected on the values of Icam, particularly recalling a course on responsibility that marked him.
“What impresses me,” confided Gilles Vandecaveye, General Manager of Icam, “is having managed to preserve the values of Icam in these buildings. We feel it, and the students live it.”
“There truly is a soul,” declared Laurent Bataille, CEO of the Poclain Group.
Gilles Vandecaveye and Laurent Bataille
A memorable moment of the ceremony: the unveiling of the incredible reproduction of the restored site in a LEGO® model, designed and built with over 22,000 pieces by Côme Gilloury, a first-year engineering student at Icam Lille, with his twin brother Jean Gilloury and classmates from their year. This model rests on a base tracing the history of Icam and can be seen at the entrance of the school.
For Jean-Michel Viot, CEO of Icam from 2005 to 2022 and director of the Lille site from 2000 to 2005, this moment was symbolic: “What happened during this ceremony was very touching; it was all of Icam that I love.” He continued: “Seeing this school as it is today was my desire since the time I arrived. A school that remains anchored in its history while looking to the future.”
A Unique Setting that Embodies Modernity and the School’s Identity
This inauguration was, of course, an invitation to dive into the heart of the renovated Lille campus, a renovation that lasted two and a half years, carried out with respect for the environment, heritage, and the history of its builders Philibert Vrau and Camille Feron-Vrau. This collective project led by the Feron-Vrau Foundation is the largest renovation ever undertaken since the building was created 127 years ago.
“This historic Lille campus holds a special place, and thanks to this ambitious renovation, it now offers a unique setting that embodies the modernity and identity of the school, faithful to its Ignatian roots,” rejoiced Jean-Yves Le Cluziat, president of the Foundation, who warmly thanked all the donors and contributors.
Wonder could be seen on all faces before the transformed site and the beautiful architectural success that preserved and enhanced the historical elements, such as the red bricks from 1898, the grand stone staircase, and the anchors.
Alumni, students, families, all together discovering the renovated site
The joy was great among the alumni, happy to meet again and (re)discover their school.
The class of ’63, together for this symbolic moment.
“This is the first time I’ve returned since 1960,” confided Claude Grunewald surrounded by his classmates Denis Baras and Bernard Fabre. Quickly, memories resurfaced from this class, which was “the first to do four years, from 1956 to 1960” and “the first to have lived in the Maison des Icam.” All three came “to see what Icam has become” and “it’s grand!” Satisfaction and pride were what Guy Carpier and his wife felt before what had been achieved and “all this energy that contributed to achieving it and that does us good!” He, who was the first lay director of the Lille site from 1980 to 1990 and CEO of Icam from 2000 to 2005, also particularly appreciated the mass and the homily “which opened up paths, with this beautiful text that deserves to be reread around the 4 Cs: compassion, confidence, conscience, and commitment.”
Guy Carpier and his wife, alongside Carole Marsella, Deputy CEO of Icam.
This transformation and the new architecture “which offer exceptional learning and living conditions” also pleasantly surprised Richard Duchamps and François Delepine from the class of ’85. Both had wanted to be present, and François, who works and lives near San Francisco, had even moved his trip forward by a week to participate in the inauguration.
The stop in front of the photos of the classes lining the walls of the inner street and the upper floor was also the subject of some amusing anecdotes, moments of emotion, or sharing, like Artus, a Bachelor’s student, and his grandparents in front of the photo of the class of 2000 looking for his father and son!
Throughout the afternoon of Friday, the campus welcomed the relatives and families of the students, curious and enthusiastic.
Simon’s grandfather could not hide his pride. The student was also proud to guide his entire family through his school, where he is very involved as a student delegate, school ambassador, president of Impact Icam Lille, the Junior Enterprise, and he was also part of the organizing committee. Spotted within the production school where Simon was able, on a voluntary basis, to train in welding and turning-milling, his parents and grandparents were impressed: “it’s a sensational tool.”
Anne and Lionel, parents of Mathieu in the second year of the professional preparatory program, had come specially from Compiègne: “We wanted to see the environment in which our son evolves and share his daily life.” Before adding that “Mathieu is happy here!”
The students feel good and say so, as Hilaire Laurencel, president of the Student Office, also testified: “in these premises and in this conducive and encouraging environment, everything is done for the students to succeed.”
Hilaire Laurencel, President of the BDE (on the left) and Johann Leost, Director of Icam Lille (on the right), with Inès Habchaoui and Alfred Picard, both fifth-year students.
“Under this same roof, we have many people: 120 employees to whom are added 52 from the Ozanam partner high school, nearly 200 temporary workers, and 1500 learners,” recalled Johann Leost, director of the Lille site. “It’s a very lively campus city, which lives like a beehive, and this school, I usually say that it belongs first to the students!”
Discover some of the press coverage on the inauguration and renovation of the site:
– La Gazette France
– AEF Info
– Le Journal des Entreprises
– La Voix du Nord
– Studyrama
– Eco121
And a show dedicated to Icam, Lille site: Salut les Hauts-de-France