Sophie DUQUESNE

A meeting with a female teacher, a former product engineer at Philips, guided me very rapidly on my orientation choices after the baccalaureate: I wanted to do chemistry. Searching for information on the different programmes which would allow me to be admitted into a Chemistry Grande Ecole, I discovered the integrated preparatory class of the Fédération Gay Lussac (CPI). I naturally chose this direction because, after the first two years, I could then enter one of the schools making up the Federation.

After the CPI in Lille, I was admitted to ENSCL with the goal of specialising in materials. During the engineering cycle, my vocation took shape, I wanted to work in research. A student project carried out during the second year of the engineering cycle, concerning polymer fireproofing, allowed me to find the field in which I am still working today.

A Research Master’s programme followed in parallel with my third year and a  European PhD  in Italy, England and Belgium completed my education.

Today, I am a lecturer (Maître de Conférences) at ENSCL. This position allows me to do research and to teach in a field which always interested me: chemistry, and more particularly methods for producing materials. I am developing techniques and formulations for fire-retardant materials and coatings which will find an application in different fields: electrical materials, buildings, textiles, etc. I am working, more particularly, on intumescent materials which swell to protect against fire.