And there’s another thing that hasn’t changed… Since the 19th century, the engineers graduating from our schools have sought to juggle three imperatives: science, characterised by the pursuit of truth; enterprise, because economic efficiency bears collective progress; and humanism, because we learned from Rabelais that science without conscience is only ruin of the soul. Over more than thirteen decades, the campus has continued to evolve, be it in small ways or big ones. Buildings, classrooms, laboratories, all the places where we learn, teach, and innovate have changed – perhaps never quite so quickly. And if we do have such a capacity to go further, it’s because we’re following in the footsteps of all those who have come before us to make Junia the heir to a long and rich history.
It is this momentum that allows us to aim higher today, without ever forgetting who we are and what we stand for: serving a purpose. And that’s what the vast modernisation project presented on this site is all about.
During the General Assembly of the Catholic Committees of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, the idea to create an ‘Industrial Faculty’ within the Catholic University of Lille is raised for the first time.
That same year, Arthur Rimbaud publishes A Season in Hell at the age of 19.
The Ecole des Hautes Etudes Industrielles opens its doors and welcomes its first eleven students.
In Paris, more than 100,000 people join the cortège of Victor Hugo, who died on May 22nd.
Far from the fierce debates surrounding the Dreyfus affair, HEI sets up its first chemistry laboratory. Nothing blows up.
HEI establishes a business school to complement its scientific training.
Tragedy hits northern mines with the Courrières disaster near Lens, which resulted in the deaths of 1,099 miners.
After 25 years on the premises of the Catholic Faculty of Lille, HEI now boasts its own teaching spaces.
As if in celebration, Halley’s Comet makes the first of two appearances that century.
After starting life at HEI, the business studies school becomes EDHEC.
Coco Chanel launches a perfume you may have heard of: N°5.
The school is accredited by the Commission des Titres d’Ingénieurs (CTI – the Engineering Qualifications Commission) for the first time.
Charlie Chaplin reprises the role of Charlot in Modern Times and makes fun of Taylorism.
Norbert Ségard founds ISEN in Lille. ISEN is the Northern Higher Institute of Electronics. ‘Northern’ will eventually become ‘Digital’.
Hergé puts Tintin at the wheel for his 18th release: The Calculus Affair.
In May, the very same Norbert Ségard founds a higher education institution, this time with an agricultural vocation: ISA.
Far from Lille, John Fitzgerald Kennedy makes the unfortunate decision to go to Dallas, where he would be assassinated on November 22nd.
HEI is recognised by the state. The same year, ISA moves to its new premises on the corner of Rue du Port and Rue de Toul for the start of the academic year in September.
In December, Apollo 8 orbits the Moon but does not land on it, a milestone that would be achieved by Apollo 11 six months later. Oh, and the Earth certainly is round.
HEI becomes a member of the Conférence of Grandes Écoles (CGE)
Maxime Le Forestier sings about a blue house in his song ‘San Francisco’. Those who know it will have it in their heads for the rest of the day.
HEI completes its first extension and opens the Saint-Omer student residence.
Some students might be playing Myst, the world’s best-selling video game for the next ten years.
The second HEI expansion is complete. All over France, football fans are singing along to Gloria Gaynor.
1st World Cup win for the country.
HEI celebrates its 8,000th graduate
Apple launches iTunes, Concorde lands for the last time, and Space Shuttle Columbia explodes as it re-enters the atmosphere.
ISA moves to its current location on Rue Norbert Ségard.
In Massachusetts, a student creates a site for Harvard students called The Facebook. Which would go on to perform quite well…
HEI joins the École Supérieure des Techniques Industrielles et du Textile (ESTIT) to create an area dedicated to technology, innovation, and international product management.
Regarding pastimes, for the first time in France, the best-selling cultural product is not a film, but a video game: Gran Turismo.
A new course is launched at HEI, dedicated to medical engineering and health.
A little further from the ground, Pluto is downgraded to a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union.
HEI joins forces with EIGSI La Rochelle and EPF to create IngéFrance, the first network of general engineering schools. It now boasts nearly 40,000 graduates.
At the cinema, a certain little rat is making it big: Ratatouille is the box-office smash in France.
The HEI Engineers for the World Foundation is created under the authority of the Fondation de France.
Due to the slowing down of the Earth’s rotation, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures adds 1 second to the last minute of the year.
The Irène Devos building, hosting integrated foundation degree graduates, opens on Rue Colbert in Lille.
NASA finds ice on the Moon, which must have made Tintin laugh: he’s been talking about it since 1950.
HEI celebrates 125 years
Twitter passes the 200 million user mark.
ISA is awarded the ISO 14001certification.
At the cinema, it’s all over for Harry Potter: the last instalment of one of the most profitable franchises in Hollywood history along with Star Wars comes out in July.
HEI, ISA, and ISEN join forces to become Junia.
CERN researchers prove once and for all that the Higgs boson particle does exist.
The renovation of the historic Rue de Toul HEI site is completed. A FabLab is set up and the technology centre is modernised.
In South Africa, Nelson Mandela dies at the age of 95 after a lifelong fight against racism.
Junia obtains EESPIG (Private Higher Education Institution Working for the General Interest) certification, and ISA opens an urban farm in Fives Cail in partnership with Lille City Council.
AlphaGo defeats the best human Go player, symbolising the power of artificial intelligence.
HEI celebrates its 17,000th graduate. In Russia, Les Bleus earn a second star.
2nd World Cup win for France.
