Made of glass and for everyone
At UM, human biodiversity is thriving. Meet a particularly rare bird in the heart of the Triolet campus: Tristan Beldi, scientific glassblower. From simple Pyrex to almost pure silica, he transforms the hardest material into fiery marshmallows.
With a passion that has never left him in his 25 years of working with this art of fire, this “extraordinary work”" he said. Tristan Beldi is not idle. From the phantasmagoria he exhales, with a steady and confident breath, come very useful scientific tools...
Repair and creation
From flasks and test tubes to refrigerants and microdistillation devices, he works with the entire range of scientific glassware. From the indispensable Pyrex, the chemist's all-purpose pot, to silica glass utensils used for high-temperature experiments.
A full-time glassmaker at the university? It offers a lot of possibilities, explains Tristan. Quick repairs, the ability to create unique pieces that are prohibitively expensive on the market, or even on-site assistance in laboratories for complex research setups. If you need any of these services, don't hesitate to ask him:
Developing plans with the researcher and participating in the creation of a specific project is exciting!
Outstanding workshop
Who are the customers of this unusual workshop? Teachers and researchers from a wide range of fields: mainly chemistry, but also pharmacy, medicine, physics, etc. "In fact, the entire scientific community may need glassware, "explains this enthusiast, who has even been sought out by mathematicians from the university. Their request: the manufacture of a "Klein bottle," a strange closed container that bears some resemblance to the equally strange but better known Möbius strip.
And while Tristan's art occasionally flirts with artistic creation, he doesn't mind. At the request of the UM's art and culture department, he took part in the Chimaera exhibition, as part of the Microclimax collective's artist residency, creating an incredible glass prototype for the occasion: a forest of scented vases emerging from an undergrowth of fused chemistry balloons.
Although his forays into the art world remain limited, the business itself is still in its infancy, according to Tristan, whose order book is growing rapidly. Especially since the Balard Chemistry Campus project could undoubtedly further expand the community likely to use this local service.
What's the next project on his mind? An introductory glassmaking workshop to help everyone get their hands dirty. With glass, of course.