The questionnaire answered by the Women of Tech is a variant of the Proust questionnaire, named not because Marcel Proust got lost in the Paris metro, but in memory of Emilie du Chatelet, a woman of letters, mathematician and physicist, renowned for her translation of Newton's Principia Mathematica and the dissemination of Leibniz's physics work. She was a member of the Academy of Sciences of the Bologna Institute. Emilie du Chatelet led a free and fulfilled life during the era of the Enlightenment and published a speech on happiness.
Why a career in tech?
Tech is our super-power to change the world
Your professional experience?
First Physiscist, then civil servant, I am currently managing a startup
Your first experience with technology?
An internship at IBM in Silicon Valley in 2001 – 6-month immersive experience of research on holographic data storage
What do you do today, and why?
Today, I am managing Ecov, a startup which mission is to turn private car into public transport, leveraging tech, data and sharing economy
Your strengths in this role?
Optimism and determination to explore new path and change the world
Past challenges, failures and disappointments?
Depending on the angle, they are countless or negligible. Anyway, they are mine and I embrace them as they have shaped my personality
Best moments, successes you’re proud of?
In a symmetric way, depending on the day, wonderful or teeny-tiny. And all of them are pivotal in who I am.
People who helped, influenced -or made your life difficult?
I almost always find something that I admire in anybody – thus I am lucky to say that my models are legion. Special thought to my fellow PhD students and post-doc: back then, sharing their daily work and choices taught me that everything is possible.
Your hopes and future challenges?
Making environmentally friendly habit so simple and so aligned with every citizen’s aspiration that the transition toward a sustainable economy is a natural and obvious process
What do you do when you don’t work?
Family life – having 3 teenagers at home always reminds you the meaning of a balance life – and a passion for Parisian restaurants
Your heroes -from History or fiction?
I studied in the school where Marie Curie discovered Radium – what a role model!
A saying or proverb you like in particular?
With great power comes great responsibility – coming back to tech superpowers
A book to take with you on a desert island?
Can I take my e-books?
A message to young female professionals?
Depending on the mood: “ Impose your chance, hold tight to your happiness and go toward your risk. Looking your way, they’ll follow “ or “yes you can” – which are more or less the same