Rewarded Talents

Innovation Medal 2022: Jacques Marteau, pioneer of muon imaging

January 09, 2023 - 10 min reading
Jacques Marteau, winner of the CNRS 2022 Innovation Medal

Each year, the CNRS medals are awarded to researchers and staff who make an outstanding contribution to the institution's dynamism and reputation. Discover the research work of Jacques Marteau, winner of the 2022 Innovation Medal. This medal honors outstanding research in the fields of technology, therapeutics, economics or society.

The pioneer of muon imaging

"As a particle physicist, being recognized for an industrial application of my research is unexpected," says Jacques Marteau of the Institut de Physique des Deux Infinis in Lyon (CNRS/Claude Bernard University Lyon 1).

However, "thanks to a succession of beautiful encounters and coincidences", the lecturer at the University Claude Bernard Lyon 1 quickly identified the potential of a technology initially developed for fundamental research: the muon detector. An elementary particle produced naturally in the atmosphere, the muon crosses matter over long distances without being absorbed.

This is a way to explore large structures in three dimensions and answer questions about volcanology, geology, and even climatology. After several patents and industrial contracts, Jacques Marteau and his team created in 2021 the startup Muodim which aims at a very large market around non-destructive testing applied for example to steel industry, geophysical prospecting or civil engineering.

Innovation Medal 2022: Jacques Marteau, pioneer of muon imaging by Fabien Carré © CNRS - 2022