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Founding class alumnus Professor Marie-Jean Thoraval (PhD ’13) is one of KAUST’s first PhD graduates. A Professor at the School of Aerospace at Xi'an Jiaotong University in China since 2015, Marie-Jean spoke with Alumni Affairs after the relocation of his 70 square meter laboratory to a new campus of the University in Shaanxi province. His new lab (now 150 square meters) is in the Western China Science and Technology Innovation Harbor in the Xixian New Area of Xi'an, and it’s from where he looks forward to cooperating with other research teams, organizations and universities in a bigger space, with newer equipment.

Marie-Jean uses high-speed imaging techniques to study multiphase flows, drops and bubbles, with the possibility that his research could be applied in areas such as 3D printing, needle-free injections, water treatment and cooling systems. While he says it might take a long time for his research to be applied in everyday scenarios, after five years' Marie-Jean and his colleagues have achieved their goal of forming a fluid dynamics laboratory in the School of Aerospace Engineering.

"We have started to make achievements in this research field. The first seven months of the year have seen six of our papers published in core international journals," Marie-Jean said.

Over the past five years, he has also settled into life in Xi'an and observed many changes in the city with a long history and rich culture. "In the past, it was not very convenient to come to Xi'an, as people had to spend at least 30 hours on a train from Beijing to get here," he said. "Now the time has been reduced to about five hours as high-speed trains have been put into operation between the two cities."

Marie-Jean began learning Chinese as a high-school student in France, and lived and worked in China prior to relocating to Saudi Arabia for his PhD.