Aurélien Houard's research activities focus on the study of femtosecond laser filamentation and on the applications of laser filaments such as the generation of THz radiation or remote UV laser emission, laser aerodynamic control, acoustic wave generation or the triggering and guiding of electric arcs by laser. His work on the “generation of THz radiation by laser filamentation in the air” received the École Polytechnique thesis prize. Hired as a researcher at the Applied Optics Laboratory* (a joint research unit (UMR) of CNRS / École Polytechnique / ENSTA Paris), he became head of the “Laser-Matter Interaction" team and obtained his Habilitation to direct research. He is also author or co-author of 87 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and has given 25 invited conference presentations. He is currently the coordinator of a major European project to develop a laser lightning conductor in collaboration with the University of Geneva, EPFL and Ariane Group.