I’m a mechanical engineer with tangible experience in R&D and project management. My obsessive-compulsive curiosity led me to navigate between different fields of research such as mechanical and biomedical engineering, as well as biophysics and cell biology. Such diverse exposure allowed me developing strong multidisciplinary teamwork skills and the ability to think outside the box in a problem-solving setting.

Research Associate

As a research associate in the physics department at the University of Ottawa, I had the chance to work with fantastic people from various backgrounds such as physics, biology, pharmacology, biochemistry and engineering. I designed, built and implemented unique laboratory instruments for applications in tissue engineering and mechanobiology such as cell and tissue stretching devices, time-lapse live-cell imaging microscopy systems and a 3D bioprinter.

PhD

I did my PhD at McGill University in the department of chemical engineering under the supervision of Prof. Richard L. Leask and Prof. Rosaire Mongrain. I pioneered a multidisciplinary research project investigating the focal nature of aneurysms. I worked in close collaboration with cardiac surgeons, chemists, pathologists and engineers based at McGill University, the Montreal Heart Institute and the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. I enjoyed the free access to open heart surgeries and autopsies at any times. Everyone should assist to one of those at least once in a lifetime.

MASc

I did my master degree at École Polytechnique de Montréal in the department of mechanical engineering under the supervision of Prof. Dominique Pelletier. I wrote and implemented in Fortran 77 a finite element method for solving fluid-structure interaction problems in axisymmetric coordinates. I applied this method to model the blood flow in a weakened vessel to mimic aneurysm formation. I also used this method to model the structure of the eyeball under an abnormally high intraocular pressure to mimic glaucoma.

BEng mechanics and aeronautics

I did my undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at École Polytechnique de Montréal. I have been amongst the privileged students to access the aeronautical engineering program taught by professional engineers from Bombardier Aeronautics and Pratt & Whitney Canada. I also had the chance to participate in a one-year student exchange at ENSICA in Toulouse (France) where I obtained a part of my training in aeronautical engineering.