Simon studied at École Nationale Supérieure des Ingénieurs en Arts Chimiques et Technologiques (ENSIACET) in Toulouse, graduating with M.S. in metallurgy (1992) and Ph.D. in Materials science (1996). Thereafter he worked as assistant professor of Electrochemistry at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris, and from 2001 at the CIRIMAT laboratory of materials science, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse. He received his D.Sc. from Université Paul Sabatier in 2002 and was appointed full Professor of Materials Sciences at CIRIMAT in 2007. He was promoted as Distinguished Professor in 2014.