Yohann Richard: an Alumn in Australia

Interview with a graduate from EPITA (Year 2008) working at Thales in the field of air traffic control.

 

What was your career path after graduating from EPITA?

 

I chose to do my graduation internship at Thales Australia in Melbourne. As an intern, I worked on several research and development projects – especially developing tools to improve the effectiveness and use of the testing process.

 

At the end of this internship, Thales offered me an interesting position of a ‘Software Integrator’ for a project of one of its Australian clients. Most of my work is focused on the development of a new simulator used for training air traffic controllers. Recently I was assigned a similar project for a client in Singapore.

 

What is your position at Thales Australia?

 

Thales Australia in Melbourne works in the field of air traffic control. We develop Information Systems for airports that allow air traffic controllers to ensure the safety of the airspace. These complex systems must enable them to manage various issues related to the movement of different devices, data exchanges etc. It’s an exciting environment and a stimulating project.

 

As a Software Integrator, my work includes to make sure that the components developed by different teams operate correctly. It comprises of configuration activities of the system and its middleware, system-level testing, support for development and validation teams – all kinds of interventions and skills mastered during my stay at EPITA.

 

 

Why did you choose another country?

 

I wanted to see what life was like elsewhere, in another culture. I chose Australia because we know a very little about this country in Europe.  Australia is full of treasures – lush nature in particular. The social activity here makes life very dynamic and we can interact with many people and professionals from around the world.

 

From a professional point of view, working in Australia also allowed me to strengthen my English skills. In addition, Thales is a French multinational present in many sectors; this allowed me to have a wide range of possibilities with respect to location and career.