Matthieu is an armament research and technology engineer. Although he is military, he is currently working on cybersecurity and cyberdefense projects for Thales at “La Ruche” in Rennes. He graduated from ENSTA Bretagne in 2018 with a double degree in Computer Science Engineering and Management.
Could you describe your career path since you graduated in 2018?
For my first posting, I joined the Thales Group. I started in quite a technical job, where I had to code a cyberdefense module with the development engineers. We used agile work methods: every 3 weeks, we presented advanced demonstrations to our client and tweaked our developments according to the feedback. This first mission lasted about 4 months.
Depuis, je travaille sur de la prospective dans le domaine CybAIR : c’est-à-dire le Cyber dans le domaine aérien. Je m’intéresse aux capteurs et aux données avec l’objectif de les fiabiliser davantage.
Since then, I have worked on the future prospects of CybAIR: that is to say Cyber combined with aeronautics. I am interested in making the sensors and data more reliable.
Can you give us more details on this mission?
My work consists in bringing the general staff of the armed forces food for thought on the following questions: what will tomorrow’s sensors be? How can they be integrated into systems? …
To answer these questions; I have to keep informed, keep up-to-speed with the latest news and trends. I discuss this with the experts from Thales, the developers…That implies a lot of technical acculturation, research, it is a bit like an extremely operational mini-thesis on the state-of-the-art of airborne sensors.
What is a typical day?
I work by myself but there are often meetings and trips around France : to Balard to meet my client, the DGA and also Massy the heart of Thales (Air Operations), Arcueil or even Mont Marsan where there is a test center.
Did your training prepare you for this career?
Yes, the school prepared me well, although what I am doing now is not that technical. It taught me to learn and also I gained more self-confidence thanks to the school and my internships. I was lucky enough to be able to experience different countries during my internship. I went to China, Spain and the United States. For my end-of-studies internship, I worked at the French Embassy in Washington. It was really very enriching.
How do you see your future career?
I think for my next posting, I would like to go to one of the DGA’s (French Defense Procurement and Technology Agency) technical centers to understand how it works on the ground. However, eventually, I would like to go to Paris to manage programs. After my Washington experience, I am also interested in diplomacy. I am not closing any doors!
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