Dr. Stephen William Rowe is a well-known industrial scientist and a Fellow of the renowned IET in the UK. He is English and at 57, has been living in France for more than 25 years. He is also an accomplished musician and songwriter and has a particularly rich past. Grenoble Life wanted to find out more …

Grenoble Life: You are a Senior Scientist in the “Innovation Department” at Schneider Electric (SE). This sounds like fun. In the simplest terms (i.e, for the unscientifically minded like myself), what do you do?

Stephen William Rowe: Well James, in practice I have two simultaneous roles linked to my varied background and my creative penchant.

Firstly I act as a corporate consultant on matters concerning extremely high voltage insulation and very high current arcing phenomena linked to circuit breakers.

Secondly, I apply my creativity to generating innovative ideas for new SE products.

I also spend a good deal of my time passing on my experience, to the upcoming generation of engineers. In today’s highly competitive world, this has become increasingly important because engineers no longer have the time to learn at a leisurely pace by making their own errors. With 120 000 employees in 100 countries, most of whom do not have perfect mastery of the English language, the challenge is not trivial. I love doing this of course!

Creating an environment enabling continuous generation of innovative ideas has become one of the keys to long term company survival. In this respect SE is an excellent place to work at if, like me, one thrives on creating new ideas and concepts.  However, it is a very bad company for those who are looking for a quiet life and a nice corner to doze in …

As “energy efficiency” has become the centre of gravity for our group, I get to work on everything which goes in this direction. The company motto, “Make the most of your energy”, leaves plenty of room for any creative mind. However, at the end of the day, an innovative idea has to generate a useful advantage for potential customers, so not everything goes. Today, mental flexibility is an essential characteristic in industry I think.

GL: Earlier in your varied career, you worked on projects to reproduce lightening at up to 3 million volts. How does that compare to the big storms we get in summer in Grenoble?

SWR: The whole idea behind this is to check that the apparatus manufactured is able to resist being struck by lightning, directly or indirectly. So the voltages at which I have worked are designed to create equivalent conditions to those that nature throws at us.

The laboratory which I led was capable of reproducing the conditions of typical lightning strokes experienced by Grenoble dwellers. The sparks created might be only 20 meters long, but they are also produced only about 10 metres from the control room.

Imagine a lightning stroke falling at the end of your garden, while you’re tending the barbecue…that should give you an idea of what it’s like.

Often, the lightning itself is not the problem. In practice, during the very brief stroke, the high current flowing between the cloud and the ground induces a very high voltage spike in surrounding cables and overhead lines. In this way dangerous overvoltage’s get into everything, PCs included.

My job was to understand the physics of how various insulators behave when such large voltages are applied to them, in order to develop reliable protection devices.

Although we understand a lot, there are many details which remain unexplained. I hope this encourages the younger generation to keep up the good work in this field.

GL: You have also worked frequently with enormously high currents. Isn’t that dangerous?

SWR: Yes it is. There is absolutely no room for non-respect of safety precautions when working with currents of up to 300 000 amps.

But remember, one of the numerous sectors of activity for SE is the protection of electrical energy distribution systems and above all, of the people using them.

To do this we have to reproduce the critical conditions under which our apparatus must function and prove that they consistently function as required.

To do this we use carefully designed installations in which we can repeatedly carry out impressive destructive tests, whilst ensuring the safety of all involved.

The key to successful design here is a perfect understanding and mastery of extremely high current electrical arcs, which otherwise can cause huge amounts of damage.

GL: You left school without qualifications, how did you come to work in Grenoble as a research scientist?

SWR: I left school before 16, with no “O” levels, and two days later was working as apprentice in a TV repair shop. Well, in truth I started by sweeping the workshop floor, making the tea and going to the local bakers to buy sandwiches for the repair engineers.

I then graduated to going out to collect and return TVs with a qualified engineer. In practice this means that I carried the TVs while the engineer chatted-up the customers, who unaccountably always seemed to be good looking women. Waiting in the van I often wondered why discussing a fault should be such a lengthy and tiring process (I never fully clarified this point).

Once my real learning phase began, I rapidly came to appreciate the team spirit and mutual assistance which is at the centre of any apprenticeship process. This taught me the value of sharing knowledge which is now at the very core of my being.

During these years I discovered the value of logical thought for solving the more complicated faults. To me this was like detective work and as Hercule Poirot says, requires the use of the “little grey cells”.

I soon also developed the desire to be able to design, rather than simply repair, and this is when everything really started …

After night classes to obtain “O” levels, I spent two years at a college of further education to obtain “A” levels and thence to Southampton University.

Oh! I also fell in love with and married a French girl, which might just explain some later decisions.

At the end of my BSc Hons in electronics, I was the only student that year who wanted to study further. Consequently I was bombarded with offers for MSc degrees, two being in France.

I chose Grenoble and a subject dealing with polymer films (Plastics). Characteristically, I hadn’t the slightest idea what a polymer was… but the challenge appealed to me. Oh! I also didn’t speak French at all at this time..

Anyway, at the end I got my PhD and then an employment in the company which has since become Schneider Electric and haven’t look back since.

GL: You’ve been nominated for the grade of “Membre Emerite” of the Illustrious French SEE.

SWR: Yes, but Nominated does not mean elected, (as many unsuccessful Oscar Awards candidates know only too well). At present I have simply been invited to submit a “dossier”. This will be considered on its relative merits in September by a panel of eminent engineers and scientists. All the same, this would really be a nice feather to put in my cap.

GL: How do you think Grenoble competes with other cities as an area for scientific and technical innovation?

SWR: Grenoble has always seemed to me to be at the centre of technical and scientific excellence. It has excellent universities and world class research facilities. As a town, it has managed to attract and retain a strong multi-national scientific community which is the basic ingredient to firing innovative thinking.

Few however, can survive on enthusiasm for science alone and the harder one works, the more there’s need for other outlets. In this respect Grenoble has a unique quality in that it has outdoor activities for everyone, AND all year round. Not many places can boast equally attractive outdoor activities for every season. So body and mind are equally well catered for.

And then there is culture and music as well, of which Grenoble has more than its fair share.

Finally, Grenoble is a human sized town, has an excellent public transport system a superb healthcare infrastructure and breathtaking views.

Tell me where I can find a better mix and I might go and take a look, but I doubt it.

GL: You must have had opportunities to work in other countries, why have you stayed in Grenoble?

SWR: As you say I have had ample opportunity of observing other towns, other countries and of course, other companies.

However, the company I work for has always backed me up and supplied me with the opportunities to use my talents to the utmost. I have been able to contribute to many extremely interesting topics and have never for an instant been bored or tempted to look elsewhere for fulfilment.

I work hard and play hard and have found Grenoble to be perfectly adapted to my conception of life. There are other places which I’ve found very pleasant to be for a time, but not to live and work in.

GL: You also speak at a lot of international scientific conferences, how do you find any free time?

SWR: I don’t really know what “free time” really is and I’m not sure I need or want any. My time is always taken up 100% by the things I want or need to do.

When home, my time is filled by looking after family, house and garden, music making, outdoor activities, writing etc. I very rarely watch television, so this alone frees up about 20 hours a week with respect to many other people.

In fact, at present, I could do with an extra couple of hours per day to write novels and expand my vegetable garden, but not at the same time. In ten years time I’ll probably appreciate a little “free” time, but for the moment, no thanks!

GL: As a long term resident in Grenoble, you must feel like a ‘native’?

SWR: Ha! Nasty one that … The truth is that I no longer feel native anywhere.

I lived for nearly 20 years at Crolles and was completely integrated into the community there. This is the advantage of the Grenoble region where people are so used to the presence of foreigners. I didn’t feel foreign though.

I now live in a small mountain village and although being integrated into the tissue of things, will obviously never be felt of as anything else than l’Anglais.

This doesn’t trouble me much because the local people have so much to teach me about rural life that it is a very small price to pay.

GL: You have two grown up children. Have you raised them bilingually? How?

SWR: Yes. Since they were born, I spoke to them only in English and my wife only in French.

They were naturally much better in French because I was their only source of English for many years. Both went through a phase of being nervous at school about their double nationality, because they were worried that teachers would expect too much of them.

English spelling also gave both of them trouble because they had insufficient practice. However all this has now been resolved. For both of them, probably the most important tool was surprisingly listening to songs in English.

GL: You’re a black belt in Judo and Self Defence. Are these really useful in modern life and have you ever had reason to use it!?

SWR: The key to success in learning martial arts is that they give you self confidence and the intelligence to know when there is no other way out than to apply them. It teaches you when to move away from a confrontation rather than to allow anger or pride to cloud ones judgement

Judo is a sport, and using even a simple Judo throw on a hard surface such as a road is extremely dangerous. The damage done can be immensely more serious than the perceived danger because a human body thrown over your shoulder onto the pavement does not bounce back like a rubber ball.

So each situation requires applying a graduated response. The first and best is to learn to avoid delicate situations and the second best is to know when to back down gracefully.

Self defence (Ju Jitsu) is another kettle of fish. Its objective is to supply the tools to defend yourself or your family when confrontation is unavoidable and the danger real. It is potentially more dangerous than Judo, because you are learning to save yourself from very serious risk to health.

For example, if attacked with a knife or metal bar you should turn and run, but if you can’t, you must disarm the opponent and ensure that he will not have a second chance. You have about two seconds to do this in. This can be very painful for the opponent.

I was lucky to learn all this at Crolles with Frederic Rouhet (5 Dan), and warmly recommend his club to any who would like to discover this discipline.

At 57 I don’t get frequently aggressed and rarely have to do more than give a few calm words of warning, which is best for all involved.

GL: You are also a passionate musician and have recently started writing songs in French. What difficulties have you faced?

SWR: I started learning classical guitar at 11 but soon turned to folk and was writing lyrics at a young age. I came across these early efforts recently and feel very fortunate that I didn’t have the courage to perform them in public at the time.

I don’t think I’ve stopped playing guitar since those days, although work and family did slow things down for some time.

About four years ago I decided to record all my favourite compositions to keep as a memory of times gone by. This took about six months, but I discovered that the creative spirit was still alive and kicking and one new song led directly to another.

I have never had any difficulty in finding new ideas, they just seem to spring up from nowhere, but this time I found myself composing things I never did before, such as Jazz , pop and Rock.

The only major problem is that I have never had a good singing voice, except for some specific styles, so I decided to look for pro singers who were looking for new songs. This is much more easily said than done. However this didn’t dampen my spirits and I’ve since produced 15 new English songs.

On the other hand, before trying my hand at writing lyrics in French, I hesitated for several years. Bad lyrics sound so much more embarrassing in French and I was not convinced that I could manage it without bring shame on the entire household.

My main problem in writing the lyrics was rhyming, because gender has to be taken into account and this invalidates many handy rhymes. It is one thing to speak the language fluently, but a very different business to write convincing, rhyming verse.

However, when I started I was surprised to find that ideas came completely differently in French than in English. Surprisingly, my Myspace page and website have been successful, but nothing positive has come of it yet.

GL: You won a BBC TV scenario contest in 2006. What was the story and how can we see the finished result?

SWR: The scenario was called “Grass”.It was played out in Wales and told the story of a research team hunting for ways of improving crops resistance to drought for poor economies.

The hero (a really nice chap) discovers a naturally resistant grass growing high on Snowdon. But where did this grass originate from? It proves amazingly fast growing and extremely resistant, unfortunately to everything including weed killers. And then some seeds get out …

This was really good fun to write but showed me how difficult writing for TV really is. Everything has to be visual and fast moving. Part of the prize was to work with an upcoming pro. This is when the trouble began …

I won’t go into detail, but suffice to say that we disagreed very strongly as to how the various characters would react to the various situations.

No doubt, a research scientist jumping onto the lab bench and tap dancing, and girlfriends vomiting, is good for audience counts, but I wasn’t prepared to go that way, so I abandoned the project.

Sorry for those who would have liked to see it on BBC TV. However, I am planning to write this and several other ideas up as books … As soon as I have a little “Free Time”.

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