Lead Scientist – Head of Subsurface Modeling at Look Up Geoscience
From mathematics to geophysics: an insatiable researcher
My first great passion since starting middle school has been math. I spent my Wednesdays and weekends studying sequences, series, trigonometry, and derivatives. My dream was to become a researcher. I was in the process of demonstrating the calculation of the focus of a parabola analytically without using derivatives (40 pages of calculations in 7th grade), until I discovered derivatives in 8th grade (normally taught in 10th grade) and the pages of calculations melted into half a page. I also enjoyed trying to redemonstrate Kepler’s laws.
Hence my second great passion: astronomy. My friends and I even started an astronomy club when we were around 15 years old. We were already visiting elementary and middle schools to raise awareness of this discipline among students.
Finally, my third passion is ultra-trail running, running in the mountains completely independently and alone for 80 km or more.
What is your academic background and why?
Wow! My background is chaotic. After high school, where I got 22/20 in math and 20/20 in physics for three years, I thought to myself, advanced math is for me. When I saw the subjects in sup… I went straight to college to study only math and quantum and relativistic physics.
At university, the professors really put me off continuing. So I switched to a year of geophysics for my bachelor’s degree. It was an extraordinry year for me! A revelation. After my bachelor’s degree, I finished my studies.
I did my national service as a conscientious objector (refusal to bear arms). So, as a “punishment,” I did double military service. After that…five years of welfare (unemployment), during which I worked as a bricklayer (2 years) and a fisherman (3 years), all off the books, of course. At the same time, I continued to teach myself digital code and programming.
Who are the influential people who have shaped your life choices?
Naturally, my brother Laurent. He was more of a naturalist, geologist, structuralist, and painter; we complemented each other. Then there was a member of my wife’s family who was passionate about caving and geology. Finally, of course, and above all, my research director at Stanford University in California for four years, David D. Pollard.
What were the defining moments that shaped your career path, your commitments, and your professional choices?
- I wanted to be a researcher in fundamental quantum mechanics. The “right university” for me was in Nice. But since my father was a fisherman and I was on a scholarship, there was no way I could afford rent in Nice. I settled for a bachelor’s degree in applied physics in Montpellier…a mistake. A wasted year.
- I worked behind the scenes during my time as a fisherman/bricklayer on a digital code in geomechanics. Since I didn’t have internet or access to specialized books at the time, I reinvented everything without knowing what had already been done. The result was an innovative and fast code that a Stanford professor spotted for its potential. This professor was my brother’s thesis advisor. He wanted to know more about my identity, my motivations, my skills (and not about my degrees, which I didn’t have).
- Four years at Stanford in California doing research…and learning English! Pure excitement for a sinner!
- Meeting a future friend at Stanford, Bruno Levy, who taught me how to “code cleanly.” Today he is a research director at INRIA.
- Visiting researcher at Géosciences Montpellier.
What are the major milestones in your professional career?
- Researcher at Stanford for 4 years (1999-2003)
- VAE (validation of acquired experience) to obtain the equivalent of a master’s degree in the US in order to work there (1999)
- Founded the startup Igeoss in 2003 and worked in R&D for six years
- Obtained accreditation of prior learning (APL) equivalent to a master’s degree in France (2006)
- Began thesis (end of 2006) at Igeoss (Montpellier and Stanford)
- Thesis defense (2010) with more than 12 A-ranked articles (June 2010)
- Acquisition of IGEOS by Schlumberger in the same month
What are the notable achievements or projects that you are proud of?
- Shortest computer program competition (1st prize) in 1984
- First astronomy software in 1985 on Amstrad CPC 464
- Dynel software (2D and 3D) for structural restoration in geology (1998)
- Poly3D then iBem3D, numerical boundary element code, a kind of Swiss Army knife (2000+)
- Among the 12 articles written during my thesis, 12 innovations
- Wrote more than 30 patents in 8 years at SLB Company
Do you have a passion?
My first passion is to share my knowledge as simply as possible.
My second passion is helping students whose parents cannot afford private lessons. So I have been giving free math lessons to students at Secours Populaire since 2007.
My other passions are running, climbing, caving, and, more recently, track motorcycling.