Ioonos

IOONOS: What is your career development (educational and professional background)?

Pierre Leseur: I started working for ONERA in 1974, just after obtaining my vocational training certificate as a qualified metal fitter. Initially, I chose to work for ONERA because my parents already worked there and I enjoyed the job very quickly. I worked in the workshop with the metal workers’ team for about ten years before working in the laboratory.

IOONOS: What does your job consist in?

Pierre Leseur: As a mechanic, I mostly work with engineers; I make prototypes in collaboration with them. Part of my work consists in manufacturing components in the laboratory of mechanics. But I spend most of my time inserting accelometers in the white room (a fumigated room where everything is controlled and in which we must wear a special outfit, so that no dust or particle can get in.

IOONOS: Did your training prepare you for this job?

Pierre Leseur: Yes, it did. With my metal fitter qualification, I had to deal with precision mechanical engineering which was a good training for my present job.

IOONOS: Do you use computers for your job ?

Pierre Leseur: I use a computer to communicate with engineers, to exchange data and insert the results of all the experiments we carry out in the fumigated room. But it is a limited use as my job is mainly a manual job.

IOONOS: What are the skills and qualities needed?

Pierre Leseur: In this job, the most important skills are acquired from experience. You have many skills when you leave school with your technician qualification; however, experience is really fundamental. You complete your training by working with engineers. For this job, you need to be meticulous, precise and careful and you have to respect the various protocols. You also need broadmindedness and the possibility of being able to discuss with professionals from different backgrounds.

IOONOS: What are the interests of your job?

Pierre Leseur: Participating in International projects is enhancing. Working on accelometers which go into space and knowing that satellites up there are working thanks to your efforts is really a rewarding experience!

IOONOS: What are the constraints?

Pierre Leseur: The difficulties we meet are mainly technical, we need to ask ourselves the right questions and be able to solve them in time to respect the terms of the projects. Precision is of the order of 2 to 3 microns and this makes things difficult. You sometimes have to start all over again because of one dust.

IOONOS: What advice would you give to young people who want to do this job?

Pierre Leseur: They need to have a good training to qualify as a mechanic and then there is no secret, they need to be nimble with their hands!

IOONOS: Does space make you dream?

Pierre Leseur: I enjoy my job and space still makes me dream. I would love to go onboard the Spaceship for a little ride and see our planet from up there…