Welcome to my webpage!
Since January 2024, I am a CNRS researcher (Chargé de recherche CNRS) affiliated with the Laboratoire des Sciences du Numérique de Nantes (LS2N).
Within the LS2N, I belong to the CODEX group (control theory) and the ReV group (bio-inspired robotics).
My research revolves broadly around control theory, mathematical modelling, and applications to biological and robotic locomotion, particularly microscopic swimming. Please find more details below, and contact me if you would like to chat!
A short bio:
From 2020 to 2023, I was working as a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow at the RIMS in Kyoto University, hosted by Prof. Kenta Ishimoto.
I have obtained my PhD in June 2020. It took place both at Inria Sophia-Antipolis and Université Paris Dauphine-PSL, under the supervision of Laetitia Giraldi, Pierre Lissy and Jean-Baptiste Pomet.
During year 2016-2017, I was invited at University of York by Dr Hermes Gadêlha, who is now Senior Lecturer at University of Bristol (UK).
I am a former student at Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan (France).
For more details, here is my CV in English (updated Dec. 2023) and in French (updated Mar. 2025).
I am organising regular seminars for the "Robotique et Vivant" group. Please contact me if you are interested in attending or participating.
No hiring offers are up at the moment, but feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss opportunities to work in our lab (masters projects, PhDs, postdocs or faculty).
My research deals with mathematical control theory and optimization, and various applications in the fields of robophysics and biofluid mechanics, especially micro-swimming -- the motion of micro-organisms and micro-robots in a fluid.
I am interested in control of nonlinear systems. In particular, I have worked on local controllability conditions for nonlinear control-affine systems in finite dimension, which usually involves to look at underlying Lie algebra structures. For both finite and infinite dimensional systems, I also take interest in the state-constrained controllability and sliding mode control.
I study the motion of swimming micro-organisms through modelling, controllability analysis and numerical simulations. I use the tools of control theory on various models to better understand, predict or influence related phenomena. In particular, I have worked on models of magnetically controlled elastic robots, and on control of particles with external fluid interactions.
I develop models and numerical simulations to study the motion and dynamics of slender, flexible continuous structures in complex media (fluids, non-Newtonian fluids, granular media). One of my goals is to cast this class of complex dynamics as (infinite-dimensional) control systems.
I am broadly interested in fluid mechanics at low Reynolds number and fluid-structure interactions. I use various mathematical tools such as functional analysis, shape optimisation and multiscale analysis to investigate questions related to fluid dynamics, mostly at Stokes regime, with applications to micro-swimming, biofluids and robotics.
A list of the students I contribute, or have contributed, to supervise.
With Frédéric Boyer and Johann Herault.
Topic: Modelling and numerical simulation of locomotors in complex fluids
With Swann Marx.
Topic: Discretisation of sliding mode control on partial differential equations
With Yacine Chitour and Swann Marx.
Topic: Theoretical foundations of Cosserat rod model and applications to bio-inspired robotic locomotion
With Frédéric Boyer.
Topic: Contact-based controllability of stretchable elongated locomotors
With Carlos Brito Pacheco.
Topic: Shape optimisation in Stokes flows.
Topic: Optimisation of active elasticity in slender locomotors.
With Johann Herault.
Topic: Numerical simulation of viscoelastic fluids
With Swann Marx.
Topic: Controllability of magnetic microswimmers
My PhD thesis, entitled, Controllability in finite and infinite dimension and applications to life-inspired nonlinear systems , is available here. I was supervised by: Laetitia Giraldi, Pierre Lissy, and Jean-Baptiste Pomet.
Below is the teaching I did while I was a PhD student.
Our paper Odd elastohydrodynamics: non-reciprocal living material in a viscous fluid catched the attention of the media! The story in New Scientist magazine was the most read in 2023 in the physics category and the headline made the cover.
I was representing the PhD students at the CEREMADE lab council from November 2019 to September 2020. I was also part of the CEREMADE's "Comité parité" from March 2019 to September 2020.
From 2018 to 2023, I contributed to write the press review section of the Images des Mathématiques website.
I participated to the JSPS Science Dialogue program by giving lectures in English to Japanese high school students (in Nagoya on February 9th, 2021, in Obama on January 31st, 2023 and in Kobe in November 2023).
In March 2018, I was invited to talk about my research in four minutes in the show "La Méthode Scientifique" on the France Culture radio channel. The podcast is available here.