Karim Belaïd joined the Galland design office at the end of 2023. A dedicated trainer, seasoned mechanic and jack-of-all-trades videographer, this technician embodies the company spirit: an insatiable curiosity for innovation and rigor in serving customers around the world.
Since joining Galland, Karim Belaïd has worn several hats: he participates in the design and industrialization of products alongside technicians and engineers, contributes to patent monitoring, develops technical instructions and assembly videos, carries out mechanical tests in the laboratory, and is involved in responding to calls for tender.
At Galland, this rigorous jack-of-all-trades has discovered new skills: "I like to transmit, explain, and advise." With the support of his colleagues in the design office, he designs training materials, videos devoted, for example, to the use of a return arm, the assembly of a catenary or a section insulator. And all in English, please! He also sometimes provides face-to-face training. When Indian clients came to visit Galland, it was with him that they alternated between theory in the morning and practical training in the afternoon on a section of line installed outside the company. "I showed them the assembly from A to Z, with the right settings, those that fit their line, their constraints."
Expertise forged on the LGV
Before Galland, Karim Belaïd spent 7 years on the Tours-Bordeaux high-speed line. Recruited by MESEA in 2016, he underwent an intensive ten-month SYSTRA training course on the 25,000 V track and overhead lines. "It was a formative experience. I was proud to work on Europe's longest high-speed line: 302 km to monitor, it was stimulating." He rose through the ranks to become Leader, but the night shifts eventually became a burden. Married and father of three, the professional was then looking for new opportunities.
Hired at Galland at the end of 2023, he found a product he was familiar with on the LGV: "The Galland tensioning devices and section insulators are solid. From colleagues at SNCF, I had only heard positive things about these products." In the design office, he learned how to model in 2D and 3D, and got to grips with tramway assemblies and 1,500 volt and 25,000 V lines abroad... "Two years ago, I would never have believed I would be capable of doing all this!"
But what Karim Belaïd also learned to appreciate after seven years in major railway companies is the closeness and family spirit of a 100% French % company: "At Galland, we all eat lunch together, we communicate easily. Everything moves faster. The hierarchy is respected, but it doesn't slow down decision-making."
And tomorrow?
Day after day, the "technical support" technician continues to gain skills. In ten years, he sees himself as a catenary expert.
"I'd like to go even further in technical analysis. And ideally, still at Galland, where I see myself evolving over the long term."
To know him better
>Family situation : married, three children
>Hobbies : Mountain biking with his children, badminton on Tuesday evenings, family vacations.
>Favorite phrase : “In life, we learn every day.”