Thierry Morand

Thierry Morand
Born	Thierry Jean-Louis Morand (1960-05-24) May 24, 1960 Paris, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	CEO of GOPURA asia
Years active	1982 - today

Thierry Morand (born May 24, 1960), is a French expert in Containment engineering field and an experienced entrepreneur.
He is world-renowned for having designed and realized unique laboratories and controlled atmosphere areas for more than 30 year, in France and abroad, including 4 Biosafety level 4 laboratories (BSL4).
Thierry Morand is also a major actor of his chosen field, by participating in the improvement of equipment and construction standards, encouraging the innovation, and disseminating his knowledge.

Early life and education

Thierry Morand was born on May 24, 1960 in Paris.

Career

Beginnings

His history with Containment engineering field goes back to his first professional experience in 1982. Right after the completion of his 2 years military service he was offered the possibility to work as project engineer in a design and project management company specialized in HVAC engineering. In that organization he was brought to design and monitor unique projects such as Professor Montagnier's biosafety laboratory in which was later isolated the HIV. Thierry Morand quickly developed a passion for Containment engineering and decided 4 years later to play a full role in that field; His passion and his ambition were such, that he created and managed companies directly linked to this field afterwards: Climascience (1987), Clima plus (1990), Mastair (1997), Certi-i (2001), Neyftis (2007).

The French reference

Clima plus is Thierry Morand’s greatest achievement in France by now. This company which designs and manages laboratories projects since 1990, is now a global reference for having achieved pioneering projects (including 119 BSL3 laboratories and 4 BSL4 laboratories):

• The 1st FMD laboratory approved by a commission of European experts
• One of the first laboratories certified by the Genetic Engineering Commission complying with the March 27th 1993 decree on GMO
• The most important French laboratories for the research on HIV on behalf of Prof. Dormont
• The choice of beef professional unions for designing their BSL3 facilities after Mad Cow crisis
• 7,000m ² of BSL3 labs and animal houses for mice on behalf of Prof. Cesbron - Joseph Fourier University
• 4,750m² of BSL3 labs and animal houses for primates on behalf of Prof. Deslys - CEA
• Jean Merieux (Lyon, France) BSL4 laboratory^[1] and its recent extension (in which are currently manipulated the Ebola Virus^[2])
• Wuhan Institute of Virology (China) BSL4 laboratory^[3]

The Asian challenge

By the nature of his business, Thierry Morand traveled all over Asia. He developed from his first Asian trips a passion for the region and the certainty that he had a role to play there. For that reason he decided to embark on a new challenge by offering his services in Asia through a new company: Gopura Asia. This company, whose name can be translated from Sanskrit language in “path to purity”, designs and manage projects of laboratories and controlled atmosphere areas in the service of Health and Research sectors. It offers a range of services throughout Asia and mainly Design and Project Management of: Biosafety Level laboratories, Animal houses, Hospitals, production and research centers for Biology, Chemistry and Microelectronics.

Commitments

Thierry Morand is committed in his chosen field as:

• Member of the ASPEC (French association for the prevention and study of contamination) and leader of "biosafety laboratories design and specific regulations" training workshop since 1993
• Advisor for the drafting of ASPEC technical guide "air treatment for clean rooms"
• Member of Prof. Zalta’s committee on genetic engineering
• Member of the AFNOR commission for drafting standards related to air contamination
• Instructor in CAMFIL (world filtration specialist) trainings
• Instructor at Paris VII University for Master-level students in biology
• Consultant (ex: Guinea just after the appearance of Ebola virus)
• Auditor (ex: South Korea BSL4 laboratory)

References