"Welcome aboard flight MT180" with Déborah Faucon
Déborah Faucon is a third-year doctoral student atthe Institute of Electronics and Systems (IES) at the University of Montpellier. On May 28, she won the jury prize in the regional final of the "My Thesis in 180 Seconds" (#MT180) competition organized by the Doctoral College. The 2020 edition was marked by the constraints of lockdown. Portrait of a high-flying doctoral student.
Déborah Faucon's specialty? Metal. But not just any metal, the kind used to make airplanes and even more, the kind used to make the door frames of the Airbus A350: titanium! A material that, in order to be used, must be heated and then beaten "like bread dough," explains the doctoral student. It's an effective process, but one that can cause small defects to occur inside the part, accelerating wear and tear.
But aviophobes can relax, because Déborah takes care of these defects. Using ultrasound, she tracks them down, detects them, and locates them: "It's exactly the same process as for an ultrasound scan. I send an ultrasonic signal into the metal sample, recover the signal that is reflected back from the material, and post-process it with digital systems using algorithms." " While the use of ultrasound is not new in metallurgy, Déborah Faucon's work is innovative in terms of the nature of the defects detected: "I'm not looking for air bubbles but large grains, and there are very few ultrasound approaches to evaluating the microstructural behavior of metals."
From chemistry to metallurgy
She is pursuing her thesis with one foot, or rather one wing, in the university and the other in the metallurgy company Aubert&Duval. It's a good compromise for this young woman with an unusual background: "After completing a technical degree and a bachelor's degree in chemistry in England, I decided to pursue a master's degree in materials engineering in Toulouse, my hometown. " After completing her master's degree, the Toulouse native began to change her flight plan to enter the aeronautics industry and join Airbus: "I was hired as a temporary worker and stayed there for a year and a half. It was quite a demanding job, where we examined large aircraft parts to understand the cause of breakage."
During this experience, Déborah learned about non-destructive testing and raised some specific issues. She then saw a possible thesis topic that would take her away from chemistry for good and bring her closer to physical metallurgy. "It just so happened that this coincided with an offer from Aubert&Duval, so I took off. It's true that my time at Airbus changed my profile, but chemistry continues to help me understand the characteristics of metal."
A contest under lockdown
Her taste for a challenge also played a part in her decision to enter the regional final of the MT180 competition. This year's final was held under unusual circumstances, as lockdown restrictions meant that the thirteen candidates had to perform from home, in front of their phone cameras. "It was a difficult challenge. I practiced in front of the mirror and sent the videos to my colleagues or other candidates for feedback. I had to adapt the text that was intended for the stage and try to make it as lively as possible, but giving a speech in front of a camera when there is no audience is a bit dull and frustrating."
Déborah Faucon hopes to make up for this frustration if health conditions allow a national final to be held on stage and in front of an audience. "I'm really motivated. I'm coming to the end of my thesis and I've got a competition to look forward to as well. It's important for me to showcase my work and that of my laboratory, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how the audience reacts to my text live." While the departure date for this long-haul flight MT180 remains unknown, one thing is certain: the entire University of Montpellier will be in the cabin to applaud her!