Vortex F.L

To French version back to former page
Me Contacter !

Summary :

th visit

Well, I have completed on this good old Earth numerous revolutions around the Sun.
I would like to work on "big pieces", like translation of scientific books to French or investigating/writing on technological subjects for scientific magazines or documentaries.
I am very interested by the last developments in linguistic engineering (Natural Language Processing applied to written or spoken materail, "Intelligent" Communication Agents) and in knowledgee engineering (Knowledge Models,Taxonomies, Classification Techniques, Semantic Web).
Strong interest also for the applications in medical research and cognitive sciences:
Neurosciences, deeper knowledge of brain functions, of neurological pathologies,advances on the human genome knowledge and genetics, development of pharmaceutical means of prevention and curing.
Better understanding of motion and perception handicaps,
Improvement of communication interfaces, transportation means and life conditions for disabled people,
Improvement, better ergonomy of the interfaces for accessing, searching and exchanging information (development of voice technologies for querying information involving "intelligent" communication agents, voice reading of texts with an enhanced language prosody quality (T.T.S), vocal dictation of texts (speech recognition): Natural interfacing with computers and information systems, coupling even several modalities (speech, vision (gestures, expression).
Development of "smart" interfaces( self-adapting/tuning to a user profile) for data/information search (Semantic Web)

Eighties 1980 - 1990 :

Engineer Degree obtained after the (French) preparatory period to the admission exams to National Engineering Schools and the engineering cursus at
E.N.S.E.R.G, Electronics and Radioelectricity National Engineering School in Grenoble (Alps, SW of France)then career orientation towards I.T, applied Computer Science through an area which applications have been growing: from the accurate exploration of human body, Virtual Reality , animation films, special effects: Image Synthesis.

Work on various projects at CAP SESA TELECOM in Rennes for 5 years and after a project concerning Image Synthesis, my activity is oriented towards the maintenance of TRANSPAC Network systems.

In 1990, decision to take an unpaid leave of absence to prepare a specialized degree in Digital Image Techniques at the University of RENNES.
This degree is obtained after achieving a project concerning a modeling software for mechanical scenes, within the Image Synthesis Research team of RENNES 1 University, directed by Gerard HEGRON : this period was very interesting and stimulating and took place in a team where prevailed an open-minded way of thinking and modeling solutions.

 Back to summary


YEARS 1991 - 1996 :

 From December 1990 till February 91, a 3-months break, crossing successively France, Spain, the North of Marocco, Algeria from Oujda to Tamanghasset via the muslim city of Guardaïa, then the 400-miles desert track towards In Guezzam and Arlit, Niger , accompanied by 2 cars and 3 motorbikes, under the wise advice of the unforgettable "Mamane", a Touareg who was a true philosopher, knowing how to find his way through the desert track, day and night (with the reading of sky). He was formerly a truckdriver shipping food (vegetables and fruit) through the desert during some 10 years.

In Arlit, Niger , abrupt transition between the muslim world and Africa, bubbling over with life.

Crossing of Niger , then Dahomey and stop at Cotonou where still survive animist practices in connection with voodoo ( ritual accessories available on the Cotonou colored market).Then departure for Togo. Visit of the capital, Lome and encounter of Yao, a butterfly and insect hunter, discovery of the forest in Kpalimé, border-crossing to Ghana by a forest path, lightning visit of Akossombo dam and for a couple of weeks, stay in Accra and Kokrobitey Beach on the Guinea Gulf, a beautiful place sheltering a Dance and Arts Centre.

Travel back to Europe, via Lome (Togo), Malta, Moscow and Roissy.
End of an outstanding and enriching travel through the encountered cultures and people.

Decide to settle in an island, Belle-ile en Mer, in the Atlantic Ocean, at the South of Brittany and birth of a son in June 1992.

Back to summary

Beginning 1993, conception of a project for the creation of a Computer Training and Multimedia Centre in Belle-ile en Mer. Training period preparatory to the starting of an enterprise in LORIENT.
This project of a 40000 dollars global cost was submitted to major actors of the economic life of the island.
The main issue was the lack of local investors or bails
, because I did not have personal funds to obtain the bank agreement on the initial loan and then request the government funds, one of them the Guarantee Fund to Women Initiative, which make loans easier by ensuring a 60 % bail for a loan ceiling of 25000 dollars.

 


Project Goals:

This project aimed at creating a new local dynamism in a geographically closed environment through the training of young adults to office automation software and communications tools (they are only proposed seasonal jobs in connection with the tourism business (Hotels, restaurants, tourist drivers, housekeeping for house-renting agencies, jobs in connection with the building trade (painting, masonry, joinery, etc.) , gardening, landscape gardening ).
A second goal was to create a team of distant workers and to request the local talents ( creators living part-time or full-time on the island ) because it has attracted and still attracts by its magnificent landscapes painters, photographers, sound makers and art craftsmen.
The main issue was to broadcast their talent out of the island, hence the idea of creating a multimedia magazine, together with the distribution of derived products, the production of this magazine ensured by the publishing team. This business had virtually at its service the skills of an engineer, a graphist, a sound creator, painters, photographers and a production team after a former training period.

The secondary activities were the initiation of every people (youngsters and dynamic retreated people) to the use of current means of telecommunications and of multimedia equipment (PCs, modems, internet connections and library of educational CD games) through training and creating workshops.

At stake was the creation of a people flow in the direction Continent to island, through the arrangement of training programmes/stays on the island which could have been arranged by a travel agency and could have used the local housing ressources ( Hotels, a Youth Hostel, local house-rentals), this flow was especially interesting for the economy of the island out of season.

This project I had designed and cost-estimated, has failed because of the lack of local support and understanding of stakes, and lack of money, in spite of numerous meetings and a good amount of will and courage.

The problem crux laid in the maturation and understanding of the stakes of information and telecommunication technologies and their multi-level repercussions: either educational, social , cultural, economic especially in a country environment and in a more emphasized way, in an insular environment, closed or at least with partial and temporary openings ( like those of an oyster or a scallop shell) where people tend, consciously or unconsciously to preserve this closed, circular state or kind of safe retirement behind the ramparts of the ocean. This attitude is expressed through a strong will to protect the small local powers and to perpetuate the economic situation by refusing or making difficult any innovation.

Back to summary

The island economy is tightly bound to the Compagnie Morbihannaise et Nantaise de Navigation, a shipping company which employs many islanders, the Hospital in Le Palais ( mainly a caring centre for disabled adults and aged people), high-standard hotels (the Goulphar Manor, the Thalassotherapy Centre, the Cardinal Hotel, etc.) , tourist bus companies and car-renting companies, house-renting agencies, restaurants and hotels, building and gardening business, a public and a private college. Few fishermen can hardly survive and seasonal workers.
To be noticed: the VAUBAN Citadel, a museum which welcomes numerous visitors and has rooms which welcome exhibitions and seminaries (capacity over 500 seats)

The island shelters several wealthy people but the major investments are turned to the repurchase of hotels, trades, building lands and the building of houses which are made highly profitable by high seasonal rentals, houses often rented 9 months over 12 by residents who must find for Summer temporary housing means (either a tent or caravan) or must accept, if they can afford it, a renting overcost for an occupation all year round.

Back to summary

Second Stage: Insular Integration Story

I had the opportunity to experience a certain type of integration: the integration of a "continental fellow" wisihing to innovate within the islanders territory ("chez les Bellilois").

My goal, through living in Belle ile, was to live in a pleasant and magnificent place, while using my skills and former experience to bring about ideas and changes through the creation of a new activity in this society: reliable and quality encounters require time, the time to understand and accept each other and they can be fruitful only if they happen at the right time ( this can be called conjunction, coincidence, etc.).They are tightly connected to individual stories, cultural and socio-economic context, local power ambitions which have a more or less extended scope (either in space (a small town, a district of villages) or in time (short-term or long-term ways of thinking, projecting).
The quality of a communication ( and its "fertility", what makes it prosper and generate new things in terms of actions) is highly dependent on the issuer, the receiver, the transmission channel, the message the sending time and the "background noise",associated with the transmission context, depending on the understanding quality and openmindedness of the communication partners.

Back to summary

As my project failed for financial reasons and as I wished to stay live on Belle Ile, I decided to start an individual business, through a freelance activity providing translation, training and teaching, software development services.

Back to summary

Lessons drawn from this insular experience :

I have acquired a better knowledge of human relations through met people.
I have had the opportunity to understand better the operating modes of a micro society (at every level).
However, in the background, a "contextual shift" was underlying, which can be explained by the meeting of 2 spaces of knowledge and motivation which were too far from one another: mine and the rural insular environment.
Such shifts exist inside regions but sometimes new activities come to life, because of a strong local will to innovate and prosper and a handful of determined and talented men who believe in their dreams.

Back to summary

Post insular story:

I gave up my Belle-ile dream though I keep strong relationships and I am still attached to this wild and wonderful island.
I left Belle Ile by the end of 1996 for Lorient, big harbour on the Atlantic Ocean.

Conception of a project related to international edition and communication through video-conferencing means.
Recording of a DataBase of "international human resources", including translators (friends, parents and relations), researchers , artists.
The main European languages were covered.
Goal: To publish international documents, either scientific or artistic and scientific or artistic video-conferencing or video-exhibitions according to a theme-customized calendar .
(High-speed transmission technologies were already existing) and the assistance of an international team of translators: such an idea was implemented later by a French company "Genesys".

After many years spent working as a freelancer, I found the position of Technical Translation and Documentation Manager at M.G.P Instruments (Merlin Gerin Provence, member of Westinghouse Group) located at Lamanon, near Salon de Provence, in the South-East of France.
I've held this position for 4 years, ensured a very heavy workload and absorbed namely the load increase of needs in technical documentation of one product line called "Radiation Monitors" for which the export market was quickly and steadily increasing and the existing documentation base before my job starting was rather scarce.
Along these years, I have developed a quality-oriented huge documentation volume.
In June 2003 I have decided to come back to Brittany, my native land and to think over the orientation opportunities for my career.

Back to summary

Present - Wishes

In 2004 I have tried to set my career direction towards the R&D area and especially the research area on Natural Language Processing (NLP):
Man-Machine Communication (MMC), Vocal Recognition Techniques, Text To Speech Techniques, Automated Parsing Techniques of written texts, generation of knowledge templates,etc.
To reach such a goal, I have attended in the Research Master in Computer Science at the ENSSAT, Engineering School at Lannion. This Research Master includes teaching modules on Man-Machine Communication, Data Mining, Machine Learning Techniques, Data Retrieval Techniques based on Fuzzy Logic: fuzzy sets, graduality, flexible queries into Databases.
My target was to find an access door to the France Telecom R&D Centre in Lannion.
As I haven't got any opportunity to perform a research-oriented practitional period at France Telecom R&D and met many obstacles (related to my age and to a non typical career) through this reorientation attempt, I have taken the decision to set my linguistic, computer and communication skills available throgh the creation of my own business in linguistic services. I definitely wish to stay live in my native land.

I would like to perform translation works in the medical research area:
Neurosciences, Brain Activity Modeling, Medical Investigation Techniques and Instrumentation means ( 3D imagery), research work on brain pathologies, research work for finding means to prevent or cure these pathologies or other severe ones.
(disorders of the plasticity of neural architecture (collapse of the neurofibrillar scaffolding which supports the neural networks: Alzheimer) - Chemical disorders, deficiency in neurotransmitters (dopaminergic circuits): Parkinson).

Back to summary