Jean-Marc GRATIEN

Based Rueil-Malmaison

How did you get to IFP Energies nouvelles?

I qualified as an engineer and spent two years teaching math in Burkina Faso for my military service. Then I worked for ESI (Engineering System International) writing software for the automobile industry from 1997 to 1999, and at CEA-DAM from 1999 to 2002.

My job at CEA-DAM got me involved in a number of IFP Energies nouvelles projects, and put me in touch with quite a few of the people there. I moved to the Technology, Computer Science, and Applied Mathematics Division in 2003.

Tell us about your job.

I develop physical-phenomenon modeling software for reservoir, geophysical and chemical engineers. We don't produce physical models as such: we write the numerical and computer algorithms that the industrial-duty software applications need to work properly.

The other aspect of my job, which involves task management, gives me a much more global view of where the projects are heading, and puts me in a position to contribute to defining new research topics and thinking about the technology we have to develop.

Tell us about a normal day at work.

The people working on projects pool a number of interdependent skills. So we often have meetings with other IFP Energies nouvelles engineers, and meetings with staff from other research centers and industrial partner firms.

My duties also include meeting suppliers on a regular basis, to organize the subcontracting side of projects.

Lastly, I am still working as a research engineer, and developing software for IFP Energies nouvelles and partner industrial firms.

What do you like about your job?

IFP Energies nouvelles engineers have more time to take their projects further than their opposite numbers in industry. We have a certain amount of freedom to map out our work, and are probably under less pressure to deliver instant profits than people doing the same thing in industry. Which means we can deliver much higher quality. But the interesting thing is that we are juggling our freedom with a sizeable applied-research and development agenda that does mean we have to focus on results as well.

What does it take to do your job?

You have to be very creative. You have to go where nobody's ever been before. You can't be afraid of failure.

You also need good soft skills. When you are working with 50 people, you have to manage them but you are also dependent on them too. You have to be able to communicate if you want to make any progress. If you can't listen, you won't get anywhere.

Where do you want to go from here?

I guess time and experience will help me edge towards project management. Not that I am planning to grow out of technical work, mind you. I guess I will eventually be spending more time honing research projects than writing software.

Further information on the Technology, computer science, and applied mathematics division