Meet Thomas Aghavnian, R&D Engineer at BWI. With a PhD in physics and ten years in data engineering, Thomas works on the REVALTO satellite project – helping turn scientific ideas into usable code. Discover his journey and what drew him to BWI.
We’re pleased to welcome Thomas Aghavnian, R&D Engineer at BWI. With a dual background in physics and data engineering, Thomas works on the REVALTO project, helping turn scientific ideas into usable code for the whole company.
Based in Paris, Thomas, 37, brings two complementary backgrounds. He holds a PhD in physics, and has spent the last ten years working in data and software engineering – a combination of scientific depth and engineering pragmatism that maps naturally onto BWI’s work.
At BWI, Thomas works as an R&D Engineer within the upstream team, on the REVALTO project: the satellite mission dedicated to determining the water elevation of rivers and lakes from space. His role sits at the interface between science and engineering: helping scientists turn their ideas into usable, production-ready code for the company. That means building the technical tooling to produce the code, but also, just as importantly, the close communication and mutual understanding with the scientists needed to make it happen.
Thomas’s background reflects this dual profile: an engineering degree from ESPCI Paris and a PhD in physics, followed by a decade in software and data engineering across a range of languages and technologies, from Python and SQL to cloud and DevOps workflows.
What drew Thomas to BWI is the project itself: working with satellites, with water, and with the combination of the two, in an international team. He particularly enjoys the mix at play: an experienced, mature team on one side, and a young, flexible new project on the other – a blend of depth and adaptability he finds genuinely rewarding.
We’re delighted to have Thomas on board – 🎥 discover his story in the full interview!
