Eve Bourdon : The career of a committed engineer
The MANTA is the showcase boat for THE SEACLEANERS. A true ambassador for the mission to clean up the oceans, it will set sail in 2025. The various technologies that make up the boat are all developed by MANTA INNOVATION.
On the occasion of Women in Science Day, The SeaCleaners presents Eve Bourdon, its project manager at Manta Innovation, to celebrate all the women who are actively involved in developing the solutions of tomorrow.
It’s 10am. Eve has managed to set up a time for us to chat, despite her busy schedule. The sun of the Breton coast illuminates her flat. La Trinité-Sur-Mer and Morbihan were not her destiny, nor was engineering. However, today, her will and her convictions have led her to become Project Manager at Manta Innovation, the engineering office of The SeaCleaners. A look back at a career path dictated by strength of mind and passion.
Knowing how to listen to yourself and not letting go
Circus school, mountaineering, climbing… Born and raised in Paris, Eve had a lot of energy to spare. Her passion for motorbike racing from the age of 17 is no stranger to her taste for tools and mechanics, which she uses every day in her profession.
“I have to admit that I am quite sporty, dynamic and willing and I like to discover and learn: these are my strengths.”
At school, she chose a scientific orientation, despite the reluctance of her teachers in the second year who advised her to take a literary path. However, she managed to pass her scientific high school diploma (in two attempts, she admits, laughing) and stopped her studies, not having yet found her way. After several insignificant jobs (from fast-food assistant to supermarket cashier…), she quickly decided to go back to school.
“I took and graduated with a higher technical diploma in Biochemistry. At the time I wanted to work in laboratory research. But for 2 ½ years, after working at INRA in the research field and several jobs in a bacteriological analysis laboratory, I didn’t see myself evolving in the long term and I was already starting to get bored behind a bench. I told myself that I could do better and that I had to try to go further.”
“I took and graduated with a higher technical diploma in Biochemistry. At the time I wanted to work in laboratory research. But for 2 ½ years, after working at INRA in the research field and several jobs in a bacteriological analysis laboratory, I didn’t see myself evolving in the long term and I was already starting to get bored behind a bench. I told myself that I could do better and that I had to try to go further.”
At the age of 26, Eve decided to resume her engineering studies with CESI and began a three-year apprenticeship in a L’Oréal production plant in Picardy.
“I must admit that it wasn’t easy every day, between the courses, the internships abroad, the homework, the travelling. Especially for a biochemist, it was difficult to validate the mechanical and electronic modules, for example. There were also very few girls: 10 girls for about 130 boys. But the work-study programme is very much geared towards supporting the class, we are there to ‘learn to learn’ by relying on specialists in each field, and the training is more general than in a traditional engineering school curriculum.”
She worked as a project management consultant until 2017. 12 years split between Paris and the West of France.
“I didn’t want to go straight into a big company, but to take advantage of consulting to discover different sectors: automotive and development projects at RENAULT, aeronautics with development projects at AIRBUS, STELIA, energy projects at TOTAL, and even military projects at SAGEM."
And, in 2017, what she calls the “great upheaval of her life”: a sabbatical year on the Asian roads to travel and discover the world.
Culture clash and awareness
“We rode our motorbikes 28,000 km across the tracks in Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Laos on an old 1981 Yamaha SR 250. Obviously, it was during this trip and the discovery of villages and the most beautiful diving sites in the world, invaded by waste, that I could see with my own eyes the damage of the proliferation and non-management of waste and plastic in particular on the terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Swimming in the middle of turtles, manta rays, nappies and flip-flops… it really upset me! I then promised myself that I would get involved in more actions when I returned.
When she returned to France, between the winter cold and what would be her last mission as a consultant, in a refinery, the shock was brutal. So when one evening she attended a conference given by Yvan Bourgnon on his adventures and his association, her goal was clear: to put her energy and skills into finding solutions and advancing projects such as MANTA and raising awareness that make sense. After an unsolicited application, Eve officially joined The SeaCleaners in March 2020.
“When we see the damage of pollution on ecosystems, but also on humans and children, we can no longer be the same; we ask ourselves many questions about the direction and future of the planet, about ourselves… we look up, we take a step back and our vision becomes much more global. There is no longer ‘my life’ and the lives of others but one planet. That’s what I learned from this trip: we need to change; that Man should be more concerned with preserving nature.”
“That’s why I wanted to work in ecology to take action and lead change, not only on my own scale but as widely as possible. For me, the ecology sector takes into account the improvement of the quality of life of all AND the planet, I find that it is a job that really makes sense.”
Combining engineering and environment
Putting technology at the service of mankind, but also of nature, is what Eve has managed to combine in her new job. And according to her, the profession of project manager is bound to grow, both in France and internationally.
“I think this is a sector of the future for engineering, yes, but for all the trades in fact. More and more energy, money and time are and will be spent on developing efficient technologies and solutions to achieve the objectives of reducing pollution, with major projects such as recycling, the circular economy, waste management, compliance with quotas, the production of green energy, the development of technologies (hydrogen, green electricity, more respectful production, etc.)”
To all women of science
But what is it like to be a project manager in a predominantly male environment? For Eve, the question hardly arises at all.
“I think there are no men or women, just people and projects. So being a project manager, whether you are a man or a woman, is the same thing. You have to have good organisational and relational skills."
“But it’s true that on certain projects, where you are the only woman facing men on the sites, it’s better to have a certain amount of confidence. You feel that you are judged firstly because you are a woman and secondly on your skills as a project manager. So there are two steps to take and a lot of confidence to gain. But it’s doable and it’s always gone well for me.”
So if Eve had a message for all the girls who want to study engineering or science, this is her valuable advice:
“Only YOU can know whether you will like it or not and whether you are capable of it. Don’t let preconceived ideas hold you back. Engineering is the assurance that you will never be bored at work because engineering is exciting and never routine. French engineers are appreciated all over the world. There are lots of different fields, the trick is to find the one you like. It’s worth a try.
Don’t get stuck on English, we know that the French have trouble with foreign languages. But it is better to work on it as soon as possible because more and more projects are international and exchanges in English are necessary. Read, listen, do Mooc, stay in England or elsewhere and it will come."