Marc Lutrot: "Data analysis now allows us to offer new services that address the real problems of clients"

"I've always wanted to work at Safran," said Marc Lutrot when asked about his career choice. Since childhood, this aerospace enthusiast wanted to work in engineering. "I did a science baccalaureate and a physics and technology preparatory class. I graduated from the French Institute of Advanced Mechanics, Clermont-Ferrand (now SIGMA). I specialized in structural mechanics." He did a one-month internship in a composite parts production company. His second professional experience was at a machinery service company, through which he worked for Safran. "We were responsible for tool design (carts, cranes that move equipment and engine assembly tools). As a business manager, I was responsible for client relations and machinery studies. I was able to discover the industrial world of Safran," he explained. During his last year of school, he did an internship in the Netherlands, at the NLR – Netherlands Aerospace Center, and worked on health monitoring technology to monitor the state of health of aircraft fuselage parts by studying their vibrations.

"Once I graduated, my goal was to continue to learn more about Safran engines," said Marc. In November 2017, he joined Safran Engineering Services to work on health monitoring issues for Safran Aircraft Engines. "For three months, I focused on the technical aspects: I developed algorithms and vibration analysis tools to report on the state of health of engine bearings". For the last ten years, Safran Engineering Services has been working with Safran Aircraft Engines on this type of service thanks to its experts in aerospace part health prediction (PHM). Marc made his own contribution.

After working for three months, he took over his manager's position and became the head of the data & PHM project. He leads the team in charge of PHM activities and also aims to offer data analysis services for new applications. "The objective was to capitalize on the skills acquired while performing health monitoring services: design, algorithm development and engineering, data visualization and digital methods to develop data analysis services that meet the needs of the client. In addition to this, the team must constantly learn to use new tools and methods of data analysis, which are rapidly changing. Today, we can, for example, respond to other clear industry issues: avoiding scrapping, limiting part production time and shortening quality control time." In short, Safran Engineering Services supports the client starting with understanding needs and then analyzing their data and proposing an appropriate action plan.

"My favorite part of my job is listening to clients, understanding their problems, even anticipating them sometimes, and proposing innovative solutions to them that efficiently solve their problems or improve their performance," added Marc. Since he arrived, the team has grown from 5 to 10 experts in data analysis, machine learning, big data and algorithms. "As a generalist engineer, I like being at the interface between the client and the teams. I work closely with Safran Engineering Services experts to understand technical issues and turn them into business proposals to find new clients. And when you have a signed contract it's such a reward to know that elsewhere, someone passionate about this will love starting on the technical side of things. Gaining this experience and credibility: that's what makes me want to continue at Safran," concluded Marc.