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Staff Stories

Svetlana Vladykina - Systems and Material Coordinator

#ITER takes my breath away;
#Russia;
#Buildings & Site Management;
#ITER Project Associate;
#living in Provence;
#respect; 

Svetlana Vladykina is a Systems and Material Coordinator for the Buildings & Site Management Program—a group of dedicated professionals handling all the operations involving ITER’s construction infrastructure, including the warehousing and identification of materials, the planning of deliveries, and material management more broadly. They also coordinate the receipt of all the items that arrive at ITER’s storage areas and their later issuance to the construction site. Svetlana’s specific role lies in planning and expediting the arrival of materials at ITER, their registration once on site, their maintenance in the Materials Management Database, and guidance with the issuance process. 

“ITER is one of the most ambitious and complicated undertakings in the modern scientific world that can drastically change the way we see energy resources.”  

Svetlana came to ITER in 2019 as an ITER Project Associate from the Russian Domestic Agency. She was 25 when she moved to France by herself and had to start working in a new team immediately. She says this experience was difficult mentally, and that it took a lot of effort to prove herself to a new team and show her eagerness to perform in the best way. “I can say that I am very lucky to have my colleagues who have become my best friends. It’s funny that we all come from different countries—for example Russia, the United States, France, and India—but we actually share a lot of the same life values such as mutual respect, friendship, and being open to listening to one another. I learnt a lot from them in my everyday work life, therefore I have self-confidence at the same time as I am gaining experience.” 

She is proud to be contributing to the delivery of so many materials for ITER, from first-of-a-kind to commercial-off-the-shelf. "It takes my breath away to see the size of all the components being installed as well as the progress on the construction site!"

She sees Aix-en-Provence as one of the most charming towns in Provence. She has learned to enjoy the French art de vivre by appreciating every moment in life, living in the present, and seeking to make the most of it. It’s not that difficult to do in Provence, she feels, since it is so easy to access the sea, mountains, history and culture all around and the climate of the Mediterranean is so sunny. "I can hardly imagine myself anywhere else and I feel really lucky to have ended up in the south of France.”