Working Within Safran Engineering Services: Christophe Bouvier, engine performance engineer

What did you do before joining Safran Engineering Services?

C.B: I earned a degree from INSA Rouen, which is an engineering university that incorporates preparatory school training. After completing a five-month internship in Vernon at Ariane Group, I went to do the second year of my master’s in Cranfield, England. There I delved deeper into my major in energetics and propulsion as well as my specialization in aerospace thermodynamics and propulsion. With my dual degree in hand, I came back to France and looked for a job. I joined Safran Engineering Services in January 2017 through a friend who told me about the job opening and the company’s co-opting process.

What is your role at Safran Engineering Services?

C.B: I work with a number of different departments at Safran Aircraft Engines as an engine performance engineer. I first worked on the Silvercrest program, which is at an advanced development stage, and since then I’ve mainly worked on preliminary designs. In a few words: Safran Aircraft Engines receives a description of the aircraft manufacturer's needs, comes up with potential engine architectures and then chooses and develops the most promising ones. At Safran Engineering Services, our role in this process is handling some of the simulation figures by processing the results and analyzing the various architectures proposed. For Silvercrest, assessments focused on engine control and operability since its configuration is mostly pre-established. During the preliminary design, however, key aspects of the architecture may change for a host of reasons, such as reducing the engine's gas consumption. I've therefore been able to see two different sides to engine design all in one job. My favorite thing is to work on a finished engine and see the results of each modification on it as a whole.

What are your future career plans?

C.B: I'd like to stay at Safran Engineering in the short term because I like working on highly technical details and working on them independently, be that at the Saclay location or on a friendly team. Eventually I'd like to move up and maybe work at Safran Aircraft Engines so that I can participate more in choosing engine architectures, which are currently selected there.