The CNRS Crystal prize, created in 1992, is awarded to CNRS engineers and administrative staff for their contributions to research and to the CNRS. 15 prizes were awarded this year.

Department of Mathematics and Physical Sciences (SPM)

• Roger NAHOUM (Polarized light spectroscopy laboratory, CNRS)
  Using cryogenics, mechanics of nanometric precision and classical optics, Roger NAHOUM has carried out numerous experiments whose originality and success has brought world recognition to the CNRS. His work has led to many industrial applications.

• Hélène NOCTON (Library of the Poincaré Institute, CNRS-University of Paris 6)
  She participated in all the great achievements of French mathematicians: as sub-editor of Eléments de Mathématiques and of Nicolas Bourbaki’s "Seminar", secretary general of the French Mathematics Society (where she played an active part in the creation of the Centre International de Rencontres Mathématiques); she now supervises the library of the Henri Poincaré Institute.

Contact:
Frédérique LAUBENHEIMER
Tel: 33 1 44 96 42 63

Department of Nuclear and Particle Physics
National Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics (PNC-IN2P3)

• Jean-Loup BELMONT (Grenoble Nuclear Sciences Institute)
  Jean-Loup Belmont specializes in the development of accelerators. A theoretician of radiation dynamics, he is also capable of developing all the components for accelerators. At the end of the sixties, he designed an axial injection system for the Grenoble cyclotron. He actively participated in the construction of the SARA accelerator (Rhône-Alpes accelerator system), and today he is technical director of the PIAFE project (acceleration of radioactive beams) and of a project for setting up a "portable" source of neutrons for hybrid reactor tests.

• Marie-Paule BOURGAREL (GANIL; National Large-scale Heavy Ion Accelerator, Caen)
  An accelerator specialist at the IN2P3, she developed, in the 1960s, the magnetic field of the variable energy cyclotron, one of the first in the world; she played an important part in the construction of Alice, the first heavy ion accelerator. Since then, she has been working at GANIL, where, after supervising the group "Source and Injector", she is now in charge of CIME, the radioactive ion acceleration cyclotron of the SPIRAL project (Production system of linearly accelerated radioactive ions), future radioactive beam accelerator of the GANIL.

• Pierre DELPIERRE (Marseilles Center of Particle Physics)
  An electronics specialist, he played an important part in the development of instruments for the study of particle physics. He began to study pixel detectors in the early nineties and explored all the possibilities of integrated circuit technology in the aim of using the detector and accompanying electronic system as efficiently as possible. Today, he develops pixel detectors for the teams working on the large-scale CERN detectors: DELPHI at the large-scale electron-positron collider (LEP) and ATLAS at the future large-scale hadron collider (LHC).

Contact IN2P3:
Geneviève EDELHEIT
Tel: 33 1 44 96 47 60

Department of Engineering Sciences (SPI)

• Jean CLOT (Systems Analysis and Architecture Laboratory, LAAS, CNRS, Toulouse)
  Since the creation of the LAAS in 1967, he has been in charge of the department « Measures, sensors and instruments ». He has conducted research in spatial electronics and set up submarine constructions. He has made an important contribution to the invention of "artificial skin" - a tactile sensor which has had numerous applications (health, safety, ergonomics); he is one of the initiators of the PAVCAS project, which studies the problem of hypovigilance in automobile drivers.

• Jean-Marie TEULER (Institute of development and resources in scientific data processing, IDRIS, CNRS, Orsay)
  He has contributed to the development of high performance intensive computing, especially in the field of chemistry. At the Institute of development and resources in data processing, he is an assistant in intensive computing and coordinates chemistry-related research. He also works with the Department of Chemical Sciences as an advisor.

  Engineering sciences contact:
  Béatrice REVOL
  Tel: 33 1 44 96 42 32

Department of Sciences of the Universe
National Institute of Sciences of the Universe (SDU-INSU)

• Françoise Launay (Laboratory of Atoms and Molecules in Astrophysics, CNRS-Observatoire de Paris, Meudon section)
  Technical supervisor of the national high resolution 10-meter Spectrometer for ultraviolet rays in vacuum since its installation in 1970. This instrument led to the publication of an Atlas of the emission rays of molecular hydrogen in 1994; more than 60 articles resulting from national or international collaborations which she organized have been published as well. In 1982, she set up a research program in the field of ophtalmlogy, using new imagery technology to improve the diagnosis of choroid tumors. This project, financed by the INSERM and supported by the INSU, has made it possible to create a multispectral retinographer working in visible and near infra-red environments. More than 700 examinations have been carried out at the Quinze-Vingts hospital with this instrument.

CNRS-INSU contact:
Philippe CHAUVIN
Tel: 33 1 44 96 43 36

Department of Chemical Sciences (SC)

• Claude COUPRY (Infrared and Raman Spectrochemistry Laboratory, LASIR, Thiais)
  Claude Coupry specializes in the study and restoration of works of art through physical and chemical methods, thus, developing laser microspectrometry technology. Her research brings together chemistry and the humanities, and she has earned international recognition for her work on pigments and artistic materials.

• Joël JAFFRE (Laboratory of physics and chemistry of amorphous materials, Orsay)
  Working in the field of mechanics, he designed and set up experimental prototypes for precision optics and in the field of high pressures. He has participated in the setting up of the long-distance infrared spectrometer SIRLOIN, and carries out research at the Laboratory for the Use of Electromagnetic

Chemical sciences contact:
Laurence MORDENTI
Tel: 33 1 44 36 41 09

Life Sciences Department (SDV)

• Bernard ARNAUD (Cognitive Neurosciences Research Center, CNRS, Marseille)
  He is in charge of studying, designing, setting up and adapting the original prototypes which are necessary for research at the Cognitive Neurosciences Research Center of the CNRS. In the framework of an international contract, he supervised the design and development of an original prototype for the simultaneous recording of the activity of several nerve cells in the cerebral cortext of the monkey Vigile, thanks to a miniature radio-controlled robot.

• Roger GUILLET (Institute of Vegetal Sciences, CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette)
  He has worked in the field of nuclear physics and applied physics, and later in technological management and administration. As director of the Phytotron, he reorganized plant cropping. He is now assistant director of the Vegetal Sciences Institute, where he is in charge of technical and financial management and of the administration. The Department of Life Sciences appointed him chargé de mission auprès du directeur général du CNRS; he is in charge of monitoring the department’s real estate stock.

Life Sciences contact:
Thierry PILORGE
Tel: 33 1 44 96 40 23

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHS)

• Ky NGUYEN (PARIS EHGO team, spatial interaction, epistemology and history of geography, CNRS-University of Paris I)
  He created the European Geography Review "Cybergéo", a bilingual (French English) interactive electronic magazine. He also designed and set up an electronic geographical data base called "Feuilles de géographie". Thanks to these communication tools, researchers can discuss scientific issues in real time; their aim is to promote French geographical research in international networks.

• Bernard TESTON (Speech and Language Laboratory, CNRS-University of Aix-Marseille 1)
  Director of the research unit Speech and Language, he has played an important role in the reorganization of phonetic research. He set up the EVA (Applied Vocal Evaluation) station, bringing together basic research in the field of phonetics and its applications. EVA is a computer station which can provide an objective measurement of phonation parameters. Physicians from all of Europe consider EVA a precious clinical tool for the study of speech pathologies. The Speech and Language Laboratory was awarded the CNRS-ANVIE prize in 1996.

Humanities and Social Sciences contact:
Annick TERNIER
Tel: 33 1 44 96 43 10

General services

• Jacques MONGE (Logistics department of the Ile-de-France Sud CNRS branch - Gif-sur-Yvette)
  With his remarkable efficiency, he has been an asset to the Logistics department of the Ile-de-France branch for twenty-five years. His organizational skills were further enhanced by the dynamism of his closest collaborators. Under his supervision, the Logistics department, whose management is very complex, was geared to meet the needs of the scientific community.

Ile-de-France Sud Branch contact:
Jean-Louis AUPETIT
Tel: 33 1 69 82 33 07