École nationale supérieure d'ingénieurs de constructions aéronautiques

French engineering school in Toulouse

The École nationale supérieure d'ingénieurs de constructions aéronautiques (ENSICA), meaning National Higher School of aeronautical constructions, was a French engineering school founded in 1945. It was located in Toulouse. In 2007, Ensica merged with Supaéro to form the Institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace (ISAE). Ensica recruited its students from the French "Concours des Grandes Écoles". A competitive examination which requires studies at the "classes préparatoires". Classes préparatoires last two years where students are to work intensively on mathematics and physics. Studies at Ensica lasted for 3 years where students eventually got a Master in Aeronautics. Area of studies cover all the fundamentals of aeronautics, including: aerodynamics, structures, fluid dynamics, thermal power, electronics, control theory, airframe systems, IT
Students are also trained to management, manufacturing, certification, and foreign languages. Main employers are Airbus, Thales, Dassault, Safran (Sagem, Snecma), Rolls Royce, Astrium, Eurocopter.

The decree giving birth to the "Ecole Nationale des Travaux Aéronautiques" (ENTA) was signed in 1945. The text was then ratified by Charles de Gaulle, president of the temporary government, and by René Pleven, Finance Minister. There were 25 students in the first class and 24 of them joined the "Ingénieurs Militaires des Travaux de l'Air" (IMTA). In 1957, the school changed its name to the "Ecole Nationale d'Ingénieurs des Constructions Aéronautiques" (ENICA). The course was extended to three years and the school embarked on its new civil vocation welcoming a higher proportion of civil students. In 1961, ENICA was transferred to Toulouse, the director at that time being Emile Blouin. It then took on a new dimension and established its identity. In 1969, the school joined the competitive entrance examination system organised by the Ecoles Nationales Supérieures d'Ingénieurs (ENSI). It thus increased its recruitment standards to become one of the leading French schools. This excellence was rewarded in 1979 when it received the Médaille de l'Aéronautique from Général Georges Bousquet: ENICA then became ENSICA, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Constructions Aéronautiques. The eighties were marked by a profound diversification in the training courses offered: opening of a "Mastère" degree and an Advanced Studies degree (DEA) in automatic control and mechanics, specialisations in aircraft maintenance and helicopter techniques. ENSICA became the top listed school for students with pass marks in ENSI competitive entrance examinations and continuously increased the part set aside for research. It also internationalised its training by implementing exchange programmes with English, American and German institutes and universities. In 1994, ENSICA became a public establishment and can now sign, in its own name, agreements and conventions with other organisations and receive research contracts. Today, ENSICA has a staff of 150 people including 25 scientific directors and almost 700 part time lecturers. The school can accommodate more than 400 students on the initial training courses and the same number of persons doing further training. The 50th class recently graduated. It included a total of 98 graduates 11 students of which did their third year of studies in a foreign university (USA, Great Britain, Germany and Sweden) and a high number of students who carried out their end of study projects abroad.

The courses given by the Fluid Mechanics Department concern the thermodynamics of irreversible processes and continuum mechanics. The courses in these two disciplines are given in the first year and are completed by a basic fluid mechanics course (general equations of the movement of a Newtonian fluid and inviscid fluid movements). In the second year, the studies concern the flow of incompressible viscous fluids and compressible inviscid fluids dealing with the boundary layer, shock wave and turbulence phenomena with complements in unsteady fluid hypersonic and mechanical phenomena. From these theoretical bases, aeronautical applications are introduced in the second year. They mainly concern:

external aerodynamics plus flight mechanics and handling qualities. aeronautical turbine engines.