Olivier Mercher

EPITECH is an engineering-style computer science school centred on project-based learning rather than chalk-and-talk theory. Across several years students design, build and ship progressively larger software artefacts—solo and in squads—with reviews, refactoring, tooling, infra basics, and pragmatic delivery. The ethos is explicitly “learn by doing”: you’re graded on runnable systems and cross-functional collaboration, closer to professional product labs than textbook exams. Tracks typically stress fundamentals usable in production — algorithms and systems thinking embedded in implementations, UNIX-style environments, C/C‑style grounding in many curricula, networked services, concurrency, scripting, persistence, scripting for automation, modest DevOps familiarity, defensive coding, and iterating under pressure. Presentation and peer feedback mirror how studios and startups actually work—short cycles, ambiguity, demos, rework. Degrees are positioned toward engineering practice (“Expert in Information Technology”) for roles that prototype, integrate, automate, operate, debug, mentor—without implying a narrowly academic researcher profile. For context in my trajectory: EPITECH also supported an exchange year abroad (for me Keimyung University, Korea)—useful grounding in adaptation, multilingual collaboration, compressed cultural context, exactly the freelancer skill set on cross-border engagement