Etienne PAUL

In the 2000s, reading Jared Diamond’s book *Collapse* was a real eye-opener: faced with the over-consumption of resources, Etienne realised that it was no longer enough simply to treat effluent and waste; we needed to learn how to recover value from them. Together with Mathieu Sperandio, they decided to refocus the SYMBIOSE team’s research on recovering the materials contained in wastewater (water, phosphorus, metals, biopolymers) rather than simply treating it — and in doing so became pioneers in France. He also works to foster a sustainable partnership with industry and to facilitate technology transfer via the CRITT GPTE, with whom the team works in ‘symbiosis’.

Cette conviction de l’importance d’une recherche-action, Etienne la doit aussi à un parcours qui l’a très tôt confronté au monde industriel : un stage chez Sanofi Labège en 1990 puis une thèse consacrée à une bactérie utilisée pour stimuler la croissance des cultures, en lien avec un semencier toulousain. Passé par INSA Transfert aux côtés du professeur Capdeville, il apprend le métier avant de le transmettre à son tour, en dirigeant l’équipe Symbiose pendant quinze ans, puis en en confiant les rênes à Mathieu en 2009.

Now head of the GMB¹ division at TBI, he strives to maintain and promote this discipline both within TBI and beyond. As a lecturer in the GP3E² department at INSA Toulouse, he continues to passionately share with fourth- and fifth-year students the knowledge he has gained not only from research but also from the world of industry. He encourages students who are still hesitant to embark on a PhD.

In a year’s time, Etienne will retire. Without hesitation and without taking up an emeritus post: in his view, research is too all-consuming a profession to allow for a proper break. And he has other things he wants to experience. He’s already thinking about the mountains, water sports, his beehives and the piano, which he’s been playing for twenty years without ever aiming for excellence, just for the pleasure of playing.