Professional Biography
I am an incoming Tenured Research Scientist (Chargé de Recherche) at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD). I am currently a Researcher in Computer Science at the University Toulouse Capitole and a member of the Institute of Research in Computer Science of Toulouse (IRIT, UMR 5505 CNRS) in AI for Climate. I received a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from ONERA, ISAE-SUPAERO, and Polytechnique Montréal. My doctoral work on high-dimensional multidisciplinary design optimization for eco-design was awarded the 2024 Best PhD Thesis Prize from the Fondation ISAE-SUPAERO, the 2025 National Open Science PhD Award from the French Ministry of Research, the 2026 International Artificial Intelligence PhD Award from the Francophone Research Network on Artificial Intelligence (RéFIA) and the 2026 Abertis France PhD Award, ranked 2nd in Sustainable Mobility from the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. I also received 4 additional Technical Best paper Awards at various conférences (AIAA*2, IDA, JFSMA) between 2022 and 2026.
My research develops frugal and explainable AI approaches for complex systems, bridging surrogate modeling, active learning, and interpretable machine learning to support transparent decision-making under uncertainty in sustainability and engineering applications. I am also a lead developer of the Surrogate Modeling Toolbox (SMT 2.0), contributing to open-source tools for surrogate modeling, optimization, structured data, and interpretable simulation analysis.
Career Summary
Tenured Research Scientist, Lifetime Civil Servant (Chargé de Recherche)
Starting Oct. 2026
Appointed to a highly selective permanent civil servant faculty position following a nationwide competitive examination.
Directing an independent research program focused on Frugal AI, decision-making under uncertainty, and climate resilience in the Global South.
Postdoctoral Researcher
2025 - 2026Postdoctoral research on agent-based simulations surrogate modeling (ANR MIMICO).
Eco-Design Analyst and Optimizer
2020 - 2025Optimization for the eco-design of complex transport systems (EU projects AGILE 4.0, COLOSSUS).
Professional Milestones
Appointed Tenured Research Scientist (Chargé de Recherche) at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD).
PI of a ecosystem modeling and simulation project for a Springboard British Council Project at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom.
PI of a climate science simulation project for a Science and Impact IFI Project at IT Bandung, Indonesia.
Active Learning Post-doctoral research for a LabEx CIMI Project at GERAD, Canada.
Sustainable Mobility Best Thesis Award, by the Réseau Abertis, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées.
JFSMA Best Paper Award, JFSMA and AFIA, Francophone AI Research Committee.
Artificial Intelligence Best Thesis Award, by the Francophone Research Network on Artificial Intelligence (RéFIA) – French-speaking University Institute.
Intelligent Data Analysis Frontier Prize, Conference Rank B, Springer Lecture Notes on Computer Science.
Recipient of the Prix du Ministère de la Recherche – Best PhD in Open Science.
Postdoctoral Researcher for ANR MIMICO at Université Toulouse Capitole and IRIT/CNRS.
AIAA Best Student Paper Award in Optimal Eco-Design.
Eco-Design Optimizer at ONERA / ISAE-SUPAERO / ENAC.
AIAA World Best Paper Award, NASA/Boeing Technical Committee.
International Research Secondment at Polytechnique Montréal, Canada.
AIRBUS National IA Contest – Finalist (issued by INSA).
Research Intern at Novosibirsk State University, Institute of Informatics Systems, Russia.
Intern at DGA Techniques AĂ©ronautiques.
Media & Press
Open Science Award Coverage
"Un prix national pour la science ouverte décerné à Paul Saves"
ISAE-SUPAERO L'OpinionIDA Frontier Prize Coverage
"Une IA plus performante pour détecter les anomalies, récompensée à l’international"
UT Capitole L'OpinionAIAA World Best Paper Coverage
Decarbonation methodologies for sustainable mobility
Education
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PhD, Frugal AI for Eco-DesignISAE-SUPAERO / ONERA/ Polytechnique Montréal2020 - 2023
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MSc, Operations ResearchENAC - Civil Aviation School2019 - 2020
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MEng, Numerical ModelsINSA Toulouse2015 - 2020
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BEng, Mechanical EngineeringUniv. du Québec à Trois-Rivières2019 - 2019
Research Areas
- Frugal AI & Surrogate Modeling
- Explainable AI (XAI)
- Agent-Based Models & Socio-Technical Systems
- Bayesian Optimization for Complex Systems
Languages
| French | Native |
| English | C1 (955) |
| Spanish | B2 |
| Russian | A1 |