Can you tell us about your background?
My name is Anaël Gendre and I'm a graduate engineer from UTC (Université de Technologie de Compiègne), class of 2005.
I graduated as a process/industrial thermal-energy engineer and did my last internship at Total.
When I graduated in September 2005, I immediately started work at Innovateam as a process engineer at Technip's La Défense site.
I wanted to continue my experience in the energy sector, particularly oil and refining, and Technip was looking for engineers to meet its needs.
What was your mission at Innovateam?
Technip had won major contracts for the design and construction of refining units: I was recruited to support this development as a process engineer.
My job was to design and simulate the installation of refining equipment to meet the production needs of oil refineries in the Middle East.
This opportunity gave me a strong technical background, but also the rigor I needed as a young engineer just out of school.
I stayed with Innovateam for 6 months, before being contacted again by Total.
What did you do after Innovateam?
After my experience at Innovateam, I returned to Total as an operations engineer until 2009.
I then continued my career with Total as Operations Manager in Antwerp, Belgium.
After 6 years with Total, I wanted to return to France for personal reasons, and was recruited by Engie Solutions (formerly GDF Suez) to become head of an operations department.
I seized this opportunity and was in charge of an operations department from 2011 to 2016 at Engie Solutions, then was able to move up within the group as Operations Director for the Brittany region from 2016 to 2020.
In 2020, I was promoted to Business Development Director for the Auvergne/Rhône-Alpes region.
But I wanted to return to my first love: farming.
So I joined Veolia in my current position, as Director of Industrial Units for the Auvergne/Rhône-Alpes region.
What is your current position?
Today, I'm Director of Industrial Units for the Auvergne/Rhône-Alpes region at Veolia.
In other words, I'm in charge of managing a profit center made up of several industrial waste recycling and recovery units.
What has your experience at Innovateam brought you?
Innovateam gave me a certain know-how and rigor: to be precise in calculations, not to go too fast, to work in a team and to be in constant coordination with the project team.
This experience also gave me a real insight into the world of engineering.
What does Innovateam mean to you?
For me, Innovateam represents a service company that offers its customers the support of skilled and experienced resources to meet their project needs.
It's a company that cares about its employees and is open-minded.
I've co-opted a few people myself at Innovateam.
What impressed you about Innovateam?
I'm thinking of an anecdote: on the day of my first job interview with Jean-David, he drew up my contract on the spot!
