Graduating from the University of Paris in 1968, Alain Lévêque wrote a thesis on Rare Earth Separation in 1973, during his doctorate at the École Supérieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles de Paris, one year after obtaining an MBA from the University of Paris. He is the author of reviews on rare earths published in various encyclopedias (e.g. Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 1982, Techniques de l’Ingénieur 1981 & 1993, Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology 2001). He is the inventor or co-inventor of twenty-five patents and has received two awards during his career: Société Française de Chimie Industrielle – Groupe de Chimie Analytique in 1972 and Société Française de Promotion de l’Industrie Nationale in 1987.
He is an expert in inorganic chemistry, electrochemistry, chemical separation processes and liquid-liquid extraction. He began his research career in 1973 at Rhône Poulenc, where he was hired as an engineer. Four years later, in 1977, he was put in charge of the hydrometallurgy sector, studying the extraction and separation of rare earths, other rare metals such as gallium, and the purification of phosphoric acid. In 1981 he was put in charge of research into major mineral processes at Rhone-Poulenc Chimie de Base’s head office, then 3 years later joined the La Rochelle plant dedicated to the production of rare earths, as head of development. At the end of the 80s, he was appointed Associate Researcher for the Rhône Poulenc group, and in 1993 became Director of Research and Development for Rare Earths and Gallium for Rhodia, covering France, the USA and Japan. In 2000, he became Director of Innovation and Technology for Rhodia’s Phosphate business.
He ended his industrial career in 2004 as Scientific Director and has since devoted himself to consulting. It was in this context that he met up with Alain Rollat and Frédéric Carencotte, and joined the Carester project, driven by the desire to pass on his know-how, and convinced that the skills brought together by the new French company are unique, thanks to the level of expertise of its members, and their synergistic nature, which make it an indispensable player in the future of rare earths, through the sharing of knowledge, with an ethical vision.