
A: I graduated from the University of Aix-Marseilles in July 1988, and left that summer to become a post-doctorate fellow conducting materials science, and high temperature superconductivity research at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.
Q: Superconductivity must have been a high priority scientific field at that time?
A: Yes, it was, and I enjoyed my work, but as a foreigner it seemed difficult to find a permanent job in Europe at that time, so after 2 years in July 1990, I left the University of Geneva to join the scientific research staff at State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo.
Q: What type of research were you involved with at SUNY Buffalo?
A: It was a joint research position between medical science and chemistry, but because I didn’t enjoy the subject and preferred to return to materials science and superconductivity research, I only remained in the position about a year.
Q: So that's when you made the decision to accept a new opportunity at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign?
A: Yes. I returned to my study of materials science in November 1991 at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois.