Road to Olympia student becomes doctor of aviation in France

Dr. To Minh Nhat (born 1996) is currently an aeronautical mechanical engineer, specializing in aircraft engine manufacturing at Safran Group (France). 8 months ago, Nhat graduated with a PhD from the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space, the number 1 prestigious school in France for aerospace engineering.

“Three years ago, I went to France with two suitcases and a dream of conquering the sky. Three years later, I have more luggage, but that desire has never cooled,” Nhat said.

The Quang Ngai boy is a former student of Duc Pho High School No. 1. Nhat is also a laurel wreath winner and a runner-up in the Road to Olympia contest. Because of his love for the movie “Iron Man”, Nhat gradually developed a passion for flying robots in the sky. Therefore, the male student decided to take the entrance exam to the University of Technology, Ho Chi Minh City National University.

Being among the group of students with high scores, Nhat enrolled in the Vietnam - France High Quality Engineer training program. In the first years, the curriculum was heavy on theory, the number of credits was double that of the general system, there were months when students "had to take exams every day". Studying a lot of theory but not being able to practice made Nhat frustrated, even thinking "should I retake the university entrance exam?"

By the end of the second year, when the major exam began, Nhat chose Aerospace Engineering. With a deeper understanding of manufacturing techniques and more exposure to the industry, Nhat's passion gradually returned.

“At that time, I was exposed to technical specifications of real aircraft and interned at several aviation companies in Dong Nai, Binh Duong... The knowledge I gained made me want to stick with the profession even more,” Nhat said.

At the end of year 4, thanks to his excellent academic performance, Nhat was one of two students selected to go to France for a 6-month internship at the National School of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics (France) affiliated with the Polytechnic. Here, the Vietnamese male student worked in a research lab related to Fluid Mechanics.

Although his French was not very good at that time, Nhat still decided to defend his thesis in French before the French council. As a result, the male student achieved a perfect score of 20/20 and graduated as valedictorian with a GPA of 8.19/10.

Recognizing his student’s potential, at the end of the internship, Nhat’s supervisor suggested that the student should stay and do a PhD. However, Nhat decided to return to Vietnam and work at a Swiss simulation software company in the field of Structural and Materials Mechanics.

During a year of working, there were many things about the Japanese industry that he wanted to learn but was not satisfied. Thinking that "if he wanted to go further in his career, he had to continue studying", Nhat "found a way" to study for a doctorate. Since 2020, 9X started "spreading" his application.

Graduating as valedictorian gives Nhat many advantages. In addition, Nhat has letters of recommendation from the head of the Aviation department and his supervisor during his internship in France. Evaluations related to his research ability, initiative... help Nhat get accepted into the lab by many professors.

The Vietnamese man then chose to study at the French National Institute of Aeronautics and Space in Toulouse. “This is the headquarters of many aviation companies. Thanks to that, I had the opportunity to directly interact with the aviation industry, opening up things I had never seen before,” Nhat said.

Also here, Nhat had the opportunity to do a 1.5-year exchange at a school in the city of Tarbes. “Before studying for my PhD, I determined that this would be a journey of 'swimming on my own'. But fortunately, the professors who guided me were all dedicated, closely following me in my work, always encouraging me to 'try my best, everything will be fine'. Therefore, the journey was no longer too stressful.”

During his 3 years of research at 2 schools, Nhat had 6 professors to guide him in 3 labs, specializing in structural mechanics, adhesives and polymer materials. Before the day Nhat defended his doctoral thesis, all 6 professors listened to the Vietnamese man's draft presentation and edited every word in preparation for the important presentation.

“Those are all positive memories and experiences of a friendly, open environment, ready to share knowledge with each other,” Nhat said.

About 6 months before graduation, the professor proposed Nhat a postdoctoral research position. However, according to Nhat, in the field of aeronautical engineering, the gap between research and application is quite large. Therefore, 9X wants to delve deeper into the application direction.

During his final years of his PhD, Nhat applied to several large aviation companies in France. Safran was the first company to interview and hire him right before graduation, as an aeronautical mechanical engineer, specializing in aircraft engines.

Having a "dream" job, Nhat believes that he still needs to try to improve and explore many different aspects of the field of manufacturing engineering.

“The more I go out, the more I feel that I know little. I just want to become a frog with strong legs, able to jump out of the well to a large well, to see the sky more clearly. I hope to cultivate more thinking and knowledge to be able to contribute more or less to the aerospace industry in Vietnam in the near future,” Nhat said./.