Dorian Boutin, intern at InnoRenew CoE, UP IAM; Main area of research: Structural engineering, mainly focused on reinforced concrete in France and currently seismic engineering as part of my research internship

• Where were you living in childhood and where do you live now?

I grew up in the countryside in Sillingy, a small town near Annecy, in the French Alps, where there are probably more cows than inhabitants. I later moved to Lyon for my studies, and I am currently living in Koper for my research internship.

• What have you studied and what were the motives for your decision?

I started with a more technical education before moving on to an engineering degree. To be honest, I ended up in civil engineering mostly by chance. Different opportunities came along, and the further I went into the field, the more I enjoyed it. Sometimes, chance makes good decisions for you.

• How would you describe your work to someone outside your field?

In very simple terms, I make sure buildings stay standing. If I go into a little more detail, I design the structural plans used by the builders and calculate each element so that it can resist all the different loads and forces it will face.

• What does your typical working day look like?

In France, a typical day at my company mainly consists of drawing structural plans and receiving phone calls from the architect telling me, for the hundredth time, that something has changed. Then I update the plans I have already updated many times before.

• What makes you excited about your work?

What I like most is that my work leads to something concrete. I sometimes think of the buildings I work on as my children, except that I only get the interesting part: designing them, without having to raise them. What I really enjoy is seeing something I worked on become real, and the fact that no two projects are ever exactly the same.

• And what is the biggest challenge at your work?

The biggest challenge is actually linked to what makes the work interesting: nothing is ever the same. It means that you always have to learn new things, stay informed and find solutions to problems you have never faced before.

• Which scientist or scientific achievement are you fascinated by and why?

I am fascinated by the progress of structural engineering, especially huge bridges and skyscrapers. Seeing how much thought goes into a simple building makes me even more curious about how engineers designed and built such enormous structures, and the solutions they found to make them work.

• Tell us about the work of art (books, music, movies, theatre, dance, visual arts) that has a special place in your life.

I generally prefer films and series that make me laugh, especially when the humour is absurd or unconventional. Why choose something sad when you can simply cry with laughter at a terrible joke?

• What have you read, listened to, or watched lately?

Right now, as I am answering this questionnaire, I am listening to 696 by Luv Resval, a French artist.

• Which place on the Slovene coast do you like the most?

Any place with a bar that serves good beer. Other than that, I am not difficult.

• What makes you enthusiastic?

Basketball, whether I am playing it or watching it, and of course spending time with my friends, whatever the reason (although beer is often part of the reason).

• Characterize your life’s guidance or an important realization (or epiphany) you have experienced.

To be happy. Simply choosing to be happy, because life is much nicer that way.

• What does the charm of wood mean to you?

I mainly work with concrete, so I may not be the most neutral person to ask. But wood has something that concrete does not: it immediately brings warmth and character to a building. From a structural point of view, I also like the fact that such a natural material can be used to create very technical and complex structures.