Brinik Erickson ’25
French IEP & Mechanical Engineering
Recent graduate Brinik Erickson discusses adjusting to life in France over the last year and a half, including his time there with the IEP. Erickson first arrived in France in late summer of 2024 and is now based out of Grenoble, France.
Top: Erickson on a celebratory hike in Sept. ’25 around Crummock Water and Buttermere in England after completing his last assignment for UTC;
Below: Hamburg, Germany, where he stayed in September with his sister while finding work in France;
Right: Erickson at the top of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Denkmal, in Porta Westfalica, Germany, in Nov. ’25 during a 100-mile bike ride.
Center left: Erickson and his mother, Julie Erickson, visit the Fort de la Bastille, which overlooks Grenoble, after she helped him move into his new apartment;
Center right: The triathlon club of Compiègne in the Velodrome National, used during the 2024 Olympics, after doing a track cycling “baptism.”
Bottom left: Gavarnie, France, the location of one of the most well-known sights in the Pyrenees, the Cirque de Gavarnie, a mountain bowl with multiple waterfalls;
Top: On vacation in Braunschweig, Germany, where he saw the frozen-over lakes in Riddagshausen, with the famous monastery visible in the background;
Below: The road up the Col d’Aubisque in the Pyrenees, where he biked up multiple times while living in Pau in the Southwest of France;
Right: Erickson and his dad/professor, Dr. Lars Erickson, biked up to the top of the Col du Tourmalet, one of the most legendary bike climbs in the world.
Photos courtesy of Brinik Erickson
Brinik Erickson completed the French IEP in 2025, going abroad for his fifth and final year. After completing six months of engineering classes at UTC in Compiègne, located in the north of France, his next step was a six-month internship at Arkema’s, a chemical engineering company research center in Lacq, close to Pau in the southwest of France. There, he did research on the effects of defects on the mechanical performance of Arkema’s pre-impregnated carbon fiber material. According to Erickson, he found that year to be a very rewarding challenge and an excellent opportunity to develop professionally, linguistically, and personally.
“I did find it hard to integrate into the different communities in only six months. I felt my confidence in my French growing throughout the year though,” said Erickson. “For me, the year abroad with the IEP felt like training, and to really reap the rewards of that challenging year, I felt I needed to stay in France at least a little longer.”
Having made up his mind, Erickson set out to find employment there following his graduation in August 2025, which he luckily found pretty quickly. He started at the beginning of September working at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble as a mechanical engineer, where he is helping a team of researchers. His job is to design, fabricate, and install mechanical equipment to facilitate the different research projects.
As an avid runner and cyclist, Grenoble is the perfect place for Erickson. “I am surrounded by mountains, with incredible roads and trails that wind through the hills and valleys with breathtaking views of snow capped peaks and bustling cities,” he shared. “I have joined a track team and a cycling club, and have already started competing in cross country running races.”
According to Erickson, the club system in Europe is very inclusive and accessible to all. Joining clubs has so far been the best way for him to meet people outside of work. “One thing I really like about France is how important exercise is – with colleagues from work I regularly go for runs and bike rides at lunch time. This practice is extremely common with more than half the workers engaging in some form of activity during their lunch break.” The emphasis on physical activity is one of the major aspects of the work-life balance Erickson finds most attractive in France.
Another part of working in France that is very attractive to him is the amount of time off allotted, with French workers commonly receiving over 30 days of vacation a year. Erickson just spent the holidays in Braunschweig, Germany visiting one of his sisters [Montara], who completed the German IEP and now permanently lives there. “With so many places to visit and explore in Europe, which are super easy to access with the European train system, the vacation days will not go to waste,” vowed Erickson.