Alexander Babkevich completed his PhD in solid-state physics at the Institute of Metal Physics in Kyiv, Ukraine in 1991. He advanced his research career in Ukraine, Germany (Institute of Crystallography and Mineralogy, University of Munich) and UK (Department of Physics, University of Oxford). He was awarded Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship in Germany and the Royal Society Postdoctoral Fellowship in UK. After leaving academia, Alexander worked in synchrotron instrumentation at FMB Oxford and for a maker of adjustable eyewear Adlens. In 2015 he joined Opera team at Cobham which in 2018 became part of Dassault Systemes.