Francois-Philippe Hocquet

Assossiate researcher Apr 2019 - Jan 2020

IPNAS, University of Liège

Design and elaboration of a new mobile miniature EDXRF spectrometer and the use of multivariate data analysis using python developments for data treatment.

Research Fellow Jan 2017 - Apr 2019

KIK-IRPA

The GEPATAR project aimed to  create an online interactive mapping tool that will allow the user to view and to be informed about the Belgian monuments at risk due to differential ground deformations which might be triggered by regional subsidence or uplift. The Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar technique (InSAR) was used to map the soil deformation in populated areas of Belgium and surroundings by means of comparing sequential radar images from several satellites. This information will be superimposed on the Belgian heritage buildings data to identify the level of risk. Some case studies will be investigated at high resolution using on-site monitoring techniques as well as stability analysis.

The partners of the project were the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA), Signal and Image Centre of the Belgian Royal military Academy (RMA), University of Liege – Central Spatial of Liege (CSL) and the RLICC (KU Leuven).

The GEPATAR project is subdivided into several tasks logically divided in time and allocated to the partners. A dedicated remote sensing image processing tool will be developed by CSL for the exploitation of InSAR archive available at RBINS. The integration of the InSAR processing and the geological and geomorphological archive of RBINS will allow the risk assessment of ground movement from national to building levels. The GEPATAR toolbox was created by RMA in GIS environment allowing the integration of data from the KIK-IRPA archive with inputs from RBINS at three scales: national, regional and local. My work was to develop python procedures to extract buildings information from the KIK-IRPA database and link them with information extracted from the geospatial platform available for the three Belgian entities in GIS environment.

PhD student Jan 2007 - Jul 2015

IPNAS, University of Liège

I finalized my Ph.D. degree at the Institut de Physique Nucléaire, Atomique et de Spectroscopie (IPNAS), in the University of Liège, by submitting my thesis entitled "Development of non-destructive mobile analytical methods for Cultural Heritage objects". My PhD research mainly focused on the development and the improvement of a mobile EDXRF spectrometer.

The constraints we encountered during fieldwork analytical campaigns triggered constant improvements of the EDXRF portable system which lead to better efficiency and data acquisition. Also, during analytical applications, where accessibility and time constraints are regular issues, the structure of the spectrometer evolved to be compatible and implementable to other non-invasive and non-destructive analytical methods. 

The outcome of doctoral research permits the use of an efficient and adapted mobile EDXRF spectrometer working in spot or cartography mode analysis to perform in situ non-destructive and non-invasive analysis. Let me note that our mobile EDXRF spectrometer was the first of its kind to be published in the case of the hidden-underlaying painting which was visualized and characterized by the determination of the major elements present in the paint layers.

Throughout my thesis work, I acquired a strong experience with X-ray instrumentation inherent to EDXRF spectrometry. I gained expertise in X-ray sources (X-ray tubes, Radioactive sources), in X-ray detectors (Proportional counters scintillation and semiconductor detectors as Si-PIN, X-PIPS, SDD), as well as analog (homemade pulse processing system, NIM bin) and digital (mobile commercial system, CaEN technology) pulse processing systems. This also sharpened my experience with specialized softwares such as AXIL, PyMCA and GUPIX.

University of Liège

Field of study: Physics
Degree: PhD