A life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing (G. B. Shaw)
I’m 66 years old (2022) and, for sure, made a lot of mistakes during my 40-year career in Space Engineering !
I graduated from ENSAE (École Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace – Toulouse) in 1981, and performed my professional activities as an engineer for MATRA Espace (MATRA Space), MATRA Marconi Space (MMS), EADS Astrium, Airbus Defence & Space (ADS).
My professional career revolved around 4 phases / decades / companies from 1981 to 2021 :
- LEARNING as a PIONEER,
- GROWTH through MANAGEMENT,
- MATURITY leading to MASTERY,
- EXPERTISE achieving ACCOMPLISHMENT.
LIFE TRACK
After several years spent on different projects in various fields (SPOT1, Helios, Ariane4 and Ariane5 avionics, COLUMBUS, SPOT4) developing deep experiences in RAMS Engineering (Reliability Availability Maintainability Safety), FDIR (Failure Detection Isolation & Recovery) technique and risk management, I headed the RAMS Systems Department in Matra Marconi Space up to 2000 participating in Space major successes (Telecommunications, Earth Observation Science).
Then, I contributed to the definition of the FDIR concept of a new generation of innovative Earth Observation Satellites. As RAMS Engineering Senior Expert, I supported all the business lines within ADS (Space systems, Aircrafts, Drones…) and I was responsible for the elaboration and the deployment of the ADS RAMS Reference handbook, applicable ADS wide. As a Senior Advisor, I contributed to the concept definition of challenging projects such as OneWeb, SpaceTug, Moon Cruiser, Orion…
I was head of the R&D and Advanced studies group for RAMS & FDIR especially (1) developing reliability modeling (failures etiology, Wear-out modeling…) and (2) investigating innovative techniques for Space such as MBSE (Model Based System Engineering), Health monitoring, In-Orbit return (big data).
I was also chairman and lecturer in many groups and institutes such as the System Resilience Technical Committee of AFIS (Association Française d'Ingénierie Système, the French chapter of INCOSE).
I developed a large expertise in the RAMS field beyond Space Systems (as a contributor to the Airbus experts network) during my 40-year career in Airbus.
Now the time has come for free adventure !
FUTURE ACHIEVEMENT
I currently remain a lecturer in many Top Engineering Schools (Grandes Écoles) and Institutes and acts as an Executive Advisor in RAMS engineering. I founded SMART JFG® Company in 2021 (Safety, Maintainability, Availability, Reliability, Testability).
SMART JFG® Company is a flexible company aiming at supporting the design of any challenging reliable and safe system based on one ground rule :
Simple as possible, Complex as necessary (JFG)