The “Voreppe Research Centre” Archives Project

Inaugurated in 1967 under the guidance of the Pechiney group, the Centre de recherche de Voreppe (CRV, Voreppe Research Center, Isère) has gradually become an international leader in aluminium research. Today, within the Constellium Group, heir to Pechiney in processing activities since 2011, it continues its expertise and R&D know-how under the name of C-Tec (Constellium Technology Center).

Model of the Voreppe Research Centre site (December 1967)

An Emblematic Story in the Evolution of the Aluminium Industry

Construction of the water tower (august 1966)

The history of CRV is emblematic because, on the one hand, it makes it possible to address the challenges faced by the global aluminium industry for the past fifty years: competitiveness, innovation, and product performance as well as challenges faced in sustainable development and the energy transition. It also bears witness to the evolution of entrepreneurship and the growing internationalization of the industrial sector. As a stakeholder within a French multinational, the CRV has gradually acquired an international dimension following the restructurings experienced by the aluminium industry worldwide.

A Structured Project bringing together Industrial stakeholders and Historians

The “History of CRV-C-Tec” project is led by the IHA in collaboration with the Amicale des Anciens du Centre de Recherches de Voreppe (the Alumni Association of the Voreppe Research Center) and the management of C-Tec. The working group that coordinates it brings together men of the art, former and active staff of the research center, specialists in industrial history and academic contributors. The main purpose of this original organization is to involve actors in the making of history by encouraging them to produce written testimonies, to collect the oral memory of their activities, to carry out historical studies on technical aspects.

Project Goals

The research group formed around the history of CRV-C-Tech pursues the following goals:

an analysis of how the CRV has developed and adapted to challenges, since its creation in 1966, to the various industrial upheavals of Pechiney (until 2003) and Alcan (2004-2007) then within Rio Tinto Alcan (2007-2011) and Constellium,
trace the roots of the current Constellium and C-TEC in the former Pechiney Group and CRV, which allows them to take positions of international leadership today in the field of aluminium processing and research,
Examine the broader trends in fostering innovation through centralized research hubs using the CRV-C-Tec as an example, by retracing its history and development to become an industry leader through several key projects, such as the acquisition and mastery of industrial processes and innovation
Promote the careers of women and men at CRV and C-Tec, in the Group (from Pechiney to Constellium) as well as the image of the industry in general.