Press releases

Appointment at IFP

30 November 2005

Pierre-Henri Bigeard has been appointed Director of IFP-Lyon, replacing Roland Huin, who is retiring.

Pierre-Henri Bigeard, 49, is an engineering graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie of Lille.
He joined IFP in 1981 as a research engineer with the Research and Development Division. He became a project manager in 1989, then head of the Pilot Units Department in 1992. In 1995, Pierre-Henri Bigeard was appointed Director of the Development Division. In 2000, he became head of the Rueil-Solaize (IFP-Lyon) Transfer project. Since 2004, he has been Senior Special Assistant to the General Management.

IFP is an industrial research and development, training, and information services center active in the fields of hydrocarbons (oil and gas), their uses, in particular in vehicles, and new energy and environmental technologies (production of fuels from biomass, biofuels, hydrogen, capture and storage of CO₂, etc.).
Facing major challenges in the international energy sector - renewing oil reserves, strengthening the energy mix, and combating climate change - IFP aims to innovate, develop and transfer technologies with which to supply energy to meet growing world needs in the transport and petrochemicals sectors, lastingly and without harm to the environment, for the whole of the 21st century.

IFP-Lyon boasts a total of 7 research and development divisions, with expertise fully complementing that at Rueil-Malmaison. The work carried out at IFP-Lyon demonstrates the continuum that prevails between research and development at IFP. The site is therefore well equipped in terms of design, testing and modeling resources. It also possesses resources for industrial development in the fields of oil production, petroleum fuel production processes, synthetic fuels, biofuels and processes for the capture and storage of CO2, and in the field of engines, specializing particularly in heavy goods vehicles. These resources are used to validate the industrial feasibility of IFP's processes and technologies, ensure their reliability, and transpose them to an industrial scale.

Located in the Rhône-Alpes region since 1967, IFP-Lyon has developed close links with the leading industrial enterprises in the area and with local universities, engineering schools, and research centers. These links are demonstrated in particular by IFP-Lyon's commitment to two competitiveness hubs in the Rhône-Alpes region, "Chimie-Environnement Lyon et Rhône-Alpes" and "Urban Truck & Bus 2015". IFP-Lyon is member of the Conférence des établissements publics de recherché en Rhône-Alpes (CEPRRA). These regional ties are further strengthened as a result of approximately thirty projects a year set up in partnership with local SMEs. The work of IFP-Lyon is also integral to IFP's international action, through partnerships set up with many international players in research, particularly those in Europe.