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The cluster has 4 technological themes to support its industrial development

• Produce and implement more functional and multi-purpose materials

• Develop the modelling of these materials and their implementation

• Commercialize new transformation processes

• Promote intelligent maintenance from intelligent materials

 Advantages

- Lorraine benefits from a privileged position at the heart of the European market, the No. 1 global market.  It is the only French region bordering 3 countries. Thus, within a radius of 600 kilometers one finds:

• 50% of the European Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
• 200 million consumers
• 6 European capitals
• 10 major metropolitain cities
• All principal European automobile manufacturers

- Oriented towards Iron and Steel and Materials for decades, the Lorraine region has a network of over 350 companies and more than 30 research bodies capable of developing new products for the worldwide market.

- Leading potential for research and training:
Research
Private - 5 research centers of leading companies, including Arcelor, Saint-Gobain, Ascometal Creas
Public    - 27 laboratories   
Education  - 70,000 students, including 5,000 from overseas - 22,000 graduates per year

- New prospects are opened up by the coming merger with the neighboring cluster Champagne Ardenne P2MI, which also specializes in materials. 

Members

Over 60 members

Companies: over 45 including over 25 small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SME)
•French companies: Carbone Lorraine, Saint-Gobain, Hydro Leduc, Manoir Industries, Les Bronzes d’Industries etc.

•International companies: ArcelorMittal (Dutch company), Crown Corck (United States), Ascometal (Lucchini group, Italy), Ascoforge Safe (German forging group Johann Hay Gmbh) etc.

Research and Educational Institutions:

Over 30 centers, including Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers de Metz (ENSAM), Ecole Supérieure d’Electronique de Metz (SUPELEC), Université Henri Poincaré de Nancy, Université Paul Verlaine de Metz, Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine, Centre de Recherche ArcelorMittal Research SA, Centre de Recherche Ascometal Creas, Centre de Recherche Saint-Gobain, Groupe Institut de Soudure etc.  

Over 15 other organizations are also partners of the cluster, including DRIRE Lorraine, Regional Council of Lorraine, General Councils of Meurthe et Moselle, Moselle and Meuse, Fonds Européen de Développement Régional (FEDER), Township Committees of Thionville, Nancy and Bar-le-Duc, Metz, Epinal and Golbey, Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), OSEO etc. 

Current R&D Project Partnerships (refer to appendix)

- 57 projects from its creation in 2005 up to December 2007: 35 obtained public support with a total budget of 49 million euros
•Out of these 35 projects, the 5 selected by the Single Interministerial Fund (Fonds Unique Interministériel or FUI) raised a total budget of 13 million euros
- During the current year 2008, 33 additional projects have been certified for a consolidated budget of 71 million euros and are pending financing

International Partnerships

Current
- Cross-border partnership as part of the Grande region with Luxembourg, the Walloon region, and the French- and German-speaking communities of Belgium.
- Russia in collaboration with the Viaméca cluster.
- Georgia Institute of Technology, United States, with the establishment of a campus in Metz
- Participation in European projects, including Impulse and Ulcos.  This latter associates MIPI with 48 partners to create a European platform for the steel sector drawing on a network of 8,300 researchers.

Future
- Merger with the Champagne-Ardenne cluster P2MI, holding very close relations with the Belgian cluster Mécatech

Appendix: Selected certified R&D Projects

• More information on MIPI cluster