On January 17, 2001 Victor Sanchez, CNRS research director, was appointed Director of the Department of Engineering Sciences.

Victor Sanchez was born on September 15,1941, in Madrid. Holder of a doctorate in physical sciences, he joined the CNRS in 1969. He has been a CNRS research director since 1981. His research activities concern separation processes based on equilibrium and non-equilibrium laws. In this framework, as Principal Investigator for NASA/CNES, he was in charge, from 1984 to 1995, of a space experiment on protein purification through electrophoresis (to supply NASA with a "rack ", a place to store all the equipment needed for experiments — there is one "rack" per experiment) for the Columbia shuttle flight of 1994.

From 1988 to 1995, he was a scientific official of the European Program EUREKA and director of the CNRS/CNES research group "Bioseparation in microgravity." From 1988 to 1992, he directed the joint CNRS/Lyonnaise des Eaux research group "Filtration and hollow fibers." His work led to the development of polymer fibers for drinking water production (50 plants are now using this process around the world).

He has been director of the "Laboratoire de génie chimique" (Chemical engineering laboratory — INP Toulouse/Université de Toulouse 3/CNRS – Toulouse) since 1997.

Victor Sanchez, who received the CNRS silver medal in 1989, is the author of numerous publications and 6 patents. His research activities have always been very closely linked to the world of industry (collaborations with companies such as Fromageries Bel, Matra Espace, Roussel-Uclaf, Rhône-Poulenc, Lyonnaise des Eaux).