Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
Jean-Christophe is a pioneer in the field of small, bio-inspired, autonomous flying robots. He holds a PhD in Mobile Robotics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), where he has also taught mobile robotics and managed numerous research projects. Additionally, he earned an MSc in Micro Engineering, completing his thesis at Carnegie Mellon University in the US. A Swiss national, Jean-Christophe has a diverse educational background that includes studies in entrepreneurship, management, and building energy. He is also passionate about flying and holds a helicopter pilot license. Furthermore, he is a fixed-wing and aerobatics instructor. In 2009, Jean-Christophe founded senseFly, an EPFL spin-off that quickly became the leader in fixed-wing autonomous mapping drones. These drones are widely used by professionals such as surveyors, growers, humanitarians, and more. As CEO until April 2018, he led the company to grow to over 120 employees, with offices in Switzerland, China, and the US, and a global network of resellers. senseFly later became the commercial drone subsidiary of the Parrot Group. Beyond his work at senseFly, Jean-Christophe has served on the advisory boards of several start-ups and scale-ups in the Geneva area. He also provides strategic and governance consultancy, particularly in the green and digital aviation sectors, contributing his expertise to innovative projects shaping the future of aviation. Since 2018, Jean-Christophe has progressively become involved in the energy transition. He is part of the organising team for the Festival de la Transition in Ecublens. He also co-founded Newatts, a citizen-owned cooperative dedicated to building solar power plants. In 2022, he joined Marc Muller’s team at Impact Living, where he assists real estate owners in their transition projects, from CECB certification to project management and energy monitoring.