Interview: Grenoble INP third-year student and cofounder of the Think What Matters student collective, David Martin-Chevalier

Tell us about Think What Matters.

We are a collective of around ten students from Grenoble INP, Sciences Po Grenoble, UGA, and INSA Lyon. We started the collective in late 2019 to make information about the environmental transition more accessible and, therefore, make the transition more inclusive, something that was missing. We organize lectures and panel talks not only for students, to make them more aware of their role, but also for scientists. The idea is to hone our critical thinking skills by working together and to explore new approaches to innovation.

What do your fellow students think of it?

Interest is definitely growing. Increasingly, students want a forum to express their ideas and a way to make a difference. This year we plan to bring more students in so that we can expand our initiatives.

And what are those initiatives?

We use social media, where we regularly post non-specialist articles on a variety of topics, from consumption trends to energy in Africa. At the December 18 Midi MINATEC we talked about 2Q2F, the method we are developing for scientists to help them ask the right questions about innovation and for engineers to rethink how they approach specifications. In January we started working with Phelma faculty on how to bring social and environmental issues into the curriculum. And, coming up next spring, the collective will take part in the student COP2 as well as an IRT Nanoelec webinar on sustainable electronics.

Watch the Midi MINATEC recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ9Tv3-0Rng

https://www.facebook.com/ThinkWhatMatters/

Contact: david.martin-chevalier@grenoble-inp.org