engineering

Vincent de Rivaz

Vincent de Rivaz is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Vincent de Rivaz rather than just read about it. In short: Vincent de Rivaz (born 4 October 1953, in Paris) is a French businessman who is the former chief executive (CEO) of EDF Energy plc, a British subsidiary of Électricité de France. Early life He studied engineering at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Hydraulique et de Mécanique de Grenoble, part of the Grenoble Institute of Technology in the Rhône-Alpes region.

Key takeaways

Vincent de Rivaz belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Vincent de Rivaz to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Vincent de Rivaz from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Vincent de Rivaz (born 4 October 1953, in Paris) is a French businessman who is the former chief executive (CEO) of EDF Energy plc, a British subsidiary of Électricité de France.

Early life He studied engineering at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Hydraulique et de Mécanique de Grenoble, part of the Grenoble Institute of Technology in the Rhône-Alpes region.

Career

Électricité de France He joined Électricité de France in 1977 as a hydraulic engineer. From 1991-94 he was the managing director of the hydropower department. He became head of the UK operations in 2002.

EDF Energy He was CEO of EDF Energy between 2003 and 2017. He met Bill Coley, the former chief executive of British Energy, in 2005 to discuss a take-over of British Energy. In November 2017 he stepped down as CEO and was replaced with Simone Rossi.

Personal life He married Anne de Valence de Minardière in 1980. They have three sons. He was awarded Knight of the Legion of Honour, the Melchett Medal in 2006, and an honorary Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2012.

References

External links EDF Energy

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Vincent de Rivaz

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Vincent de Rivaz claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Vincent de Rivaz before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Vincent de Rivaz ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Vincent de Rivaz

In research: Vincent de Rivaz appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Vincent de Rivaz in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Vincent de Rivaz is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1953 births, Businesspeople from Paris, Engineers from Paris, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Vincent de Rivaz outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Vincent de Rivaz in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Vincent de Rivaz means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Vincent de Rivaz out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Vincent de Rivaz in simple terms?

Vincent de Rivaz (born 4 October 1953, in Paris) is a French businessman who is the former chief executive (CEO) of EDF Energy plc, a British subsidiary of Électricité de France. Early life He studied engineering at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Hydraulique et de Mécanique de Grenoble, part of t…

Why does Vincent de Rivaz matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Vincent de Rivaz?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Vincent de Rivaz.