Examples of occupational profiles of graduates of CPE Lyon
Corinne Hautavoine
My career path
After having lived abroad until the age of 17 in Asia and Africa with my family, I returned to
France to do my Scientific Baccalaureate, in Reims.
I then chose to continue my studies in the “Classes Préparatoires” knowing that I wanted to
remain in the scientific domain but not to specialize straightaway. I therefore did a PCSI*
course for my first year in class préparatoires. In fact, this was a very important year for me as
it revealed my strong interest in chemistry, leading me to do a PC*, which I also passed.
When I gained entry to high level schools of science and engineering (Concours Communs
Polytechniques), I chose to go to CPE Lyon for several reasons: first, for the options offered
but also for the possibility of doing several internships and especially a year abroad in
industry between the fourth and final year, without forgetting the importance of its strong
connection with industry. I profited well from this opportunity of industrial placements to
discover different companies, and this is how I had the possibility of doing a PhD in one of
the industries I had worked in, immediately after graduating as an engineer.
* PCSI: Physics, Chemistry and Engineering Sciences
* PC: Physics, Chemistry
My job
I am now in the process of terminating my second year of my thesis between Germany (where
my industrial sponsor is) and the UK (where my university is). This experience is extremely
enriching because an industrial thesis is a project where it is necessary at the same time as
obtaining results useful for the industry, to complete a thesis with a solid scientific base.
In conclusion
Three things have been important for me during my career so far and will certainly be so in
the future:
• Keep the maximum number of doors open before making a decision of orientation
for the future ;
•
Create a network of contacts from my internships and conferences I have been to
(CPE Lyon and other scientific conferences, etc.) and then keep these contacts;
• Last but not least, and this is certainly linked to my childhood, is that I have always
tried to have the possibility of traveling.
A word to finish - one thing I have not mentioned but which I think underlies my career path
is the fact of investing myself 100% in whatever I take on and do, in order to always give my
best.
Guillaume Mouzet
Product engineer
My career path
At the end of high school, when I had to make a choice as to the next step in my education, I
didn’t have a precise idea of what my job or vocation would be. I knew only two things: I
liked sport and science. When I looked around me, I realized that there were an enormous
number of job possibilities in chemistry because it can be found everywhere and notably in
sport. I therefore oriented myself towards « classes préparatoires » (two years higher
education in math, physics and chemistry in preparation for competitive or direct entry to high
level schools of science and engineering). I had a preference for “classes préparatoires
intégrées (CPIs)” i.e. direct entry to these schools as, in my opinion, this was synonymous
with a better ambiance. I chose the CPI of CPE Lyon, attracted notably by this school’s strong
links with industry and also the possibility of working for a year in industry in another
country before the end of the final year.
After the CPI, I entered the Chemistry-Process Engineering section. I later specialized (in
the fourth year of higher education in engineering) in polymers. The first inkling of that I was
where I should be, came in the first lesson: I discovered the materials of my surfboard. I saw
immediately the link which could be made between my education and my leisure activities. I
therefore spent one year working in Australia, in the University of Sydney then the University
of Queensland in a synthetic and natural polymer research center. This experience was
extremely positive for me and I would recommend it to everybody.
On returning to France for my final year, in addition to my normal courses, I did a Research
Master’s in Innovative Materials in the University Lyon 1, in collaboration with “INSA”
(National Institute of Applied Sciences) and “Centrale Lyon” (an engineering school). I had
found my career goal: acquire the knowledge necessary in innovative materials and plastics
for sport. My final year project also took place in Australia, where I was in charge of
improving the materials in traditional surfboards.
My job
Today, I am a Product Engineer in Quechua, i.e. I design and develop new products for
this brand. What makes me so passionate about this work is that my field of influence is very
vast as together with the innovation on the technical side, I am also in constant
communication with all the different people involved in the project. I follow the product from
the initial idea, the customer’s need, to the shop where the product is sold, and even further
than that; and this of course passing through the design phase, development and production…
On the development site, at the foot of the Mont Blanc, or when traveling to another country
to meet our suppliers, I am responsible for the quality, optimizing the cost, improving the
delays, and reducing the environmental impact of my products. My studies have helped me
enormously, because as well as my technical knowledge, I have a good critical sense, am
responsible and open-minded, which permits me to combine my work and my passion for
sport.
In conclusion
I have been passionate about sport since I was young. I didn’t have a clear vision of what I
really wanted to do until I found that chemistry, as well as being amusing in practicals,
opened doors to so many domains because we find it in every object of everyday life.
I therefore oriented my studies to the ‘classes préparatoires’ of CPE Lyon followed by an
engineering diploma in the chemistry-process engineering department where I learned
about all the different aspects of chemistry and could capitalize on a scientific know-how
and savoir-faire. I then specialized in polymers as well as innovative materials following an
internship year in laboratory research in Australia.
After a final year project where I could combine my knowledge of materials with my passion
for sport, I naturally oriented me career to one where I could apply my education and
everything I had learned in an industrial context.
Today, as a fully-integrated member of the research department in Quechua, in
Sallanches, I feel very comfortable working on products which I am passionate about where I
have significant human contact as well as a very technical aspect to my work.
Laurence Favier
Patent engineer
My career path
As a student in CPE Lyon, with an Organic Chemistry specialization, I spent my last two
years studying in England: one year in an internship where I did research in a pharmaceutical
company and an exchange year in the ERASMUS exchange programme. I then started my
professional career in England as a Research Engineer in Novartis. After more than two
years in this pharmaceutical company, I came back to France where I wanted to acquire other
competences and move away from research but at the same time remaining in an international
context and in the world of pharmacy. I therefore entered the domain of Intellectual
Property (PI), a world I knew nothing about. I worked as a Technical-Commercial
Engineer, at the INPI*, for the diffusion of a database of pharmaceutical patents. On a
European level, I taught chemists in the use of a research software. I also worked in the Client
Service Department and software development. At the end of four and a half years, I decided
to no longer work in the PI domain and instead took a job as Patent Engineer.
My job
I now work in AREVA NP, in the PI unit for the Nuclear Fuel "Business Unit" (5200
people in principally three countries: France, Germany and the USA). I contribute to the
identification of inventions and technical follow-up of patent demands, and realize research
into work that could have been done in the area of the patent in the context of a study of
patentability and freedom of exploitation. I also participate in technology-watch and realize
the assessment of patents. It is a multidisciplinary job where there are daily exchanges, in
English, with inventors and patent advice departments.
In conclusion
At the moment when I completed my studies, I would never have imagined that ten years later
I would be a Patent Engineer. In fact, with my diploma and my experience, I can do a job
that interests me and which is very enriching. In addition, I broaden my technical and legal
knowledge every day.
In a short while, I will certainly pass the CEIPI** diploma to complete my formation and
thus have more responsibility.
* INPI = National Institute of Intellectual Property
** CEIPI = Centre for the Study of International Intellectual Property
Jacky Fromont
Marketing manager
My career path
After a scientific baccalaureate, I entered CPE Lyon via the integrated Classes
Préparatoires (CPI).
After 4 years (two years in CPI in maths, physics and chemistry, then two years of chemistry
and chemical engineering at CPE Lyon) I went to work for one year in BASF (Ludwigshafen,
Germany) in an organometallic chemistry laboratory, before my final year at CPE. The theme
of my research was: "Synthesis and characterization of catalysts based on organometallic
complexes". This experience enabled me to anticipate the work required in a large industrial
group, improve my knowledge of the German language and culture, and simply to develop
my personality. Then I came back to CPE Lyon for my fifth and final year of higher
education.
In December 1999, I began working for Wacker, where I still am today.
My job
I am Marketing Manager for the different products manufactured by the company, as much
in France as in other European countries (BeNeLux, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland). The
work consists in consolidating and developing sales in these countries, as well as the domains
of utilization of these products. The markets are varied: pharmaceuticals, cosmetics,
foodstuffs, chemical industry, and plastics. My interlocutors (both internal and external to
Wacker) are in purchasing, R&D, marketing, production, quality, and logistics. Above all, it
is a job I am passionate about where one is enriched by the contact with others and by the
technological innovations. The necessary qualities are: curiosity, the ability to listen,
flexibility, and rigor.
In conclusion
The chemical engineering diploma (from CPE Lyon in this case) enables you to have access
to jobs you can be passionate about, not only in the research and development domain or in
production, but also in the sales domain where your knowledge in chemistry may be
necessary.