Discover People at Soitec

I have been working at Soitec since 2021 as a Maintenance Technician in the Dry Plasma equipment park, where I am responsible for the Implanter, PECVD (Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition) machines, and ACTI (surface activation machines)..

A technical career path, from fieldwork to team management
I spent ten years in the wind power industry: an apprenticeship as a technician, working as a commissioning engineer across Europe, expatriation to the Netherlands, and later becoming a Department Manager overseeing about ten technicians. 
This period, rich in experience and involving very frequent business travel, taught me a great deal. But after this intense period, I chose to take a step back to explore other passions. I learned to fly a hang glider, converted a small truck for travelling, and even obtained a CAP (Certificate of Professional Aptitude) in cutlery, a discipline that allowed me to express my creativity in a different way.

A new professional chapter at Soitec
I discovered Soitec somewhat by chance via a job dating poster. As the site is located near a landing zone I know well, I saw it as an ideal opportunity to start a new professional chapter. 
This is how I joined the Soitec adventure in 2021 as a Maintenance Technician in the IPR (Implant, Plasma, RTA) park on weekend day shifts, before moving to the Dry Plasma equipment park. What I appreciate in my job is improving processes and implementing best practices.

Sharing the art and values of free flying
In parallel, I volunteer with a hang gliding association, the GCVL (Free flying club of Grenoble Chartreuse), founded over 50 years ago. Although paragliding is now the majority (with over 35,000 licensed members compared to only 400 hang glider pilots in France), I continue to keep this increasingly rare practice alive. 
I have obtained federal qualifications that allow me to introduce new people to hang gliding. I am currently preparing for the Federal Instructor certification to supervise full training courses, leading up to the first solo flight. This commitment mobilizes me for nearly a hundred hours a year, encompassing logistics, guidance, and safety... it’s an organization built on trust and rigor. 
What motivates me is the passion for flying, the pleasure of sharing knowledge, and the desire to evolve practices. In flight, the pilot is alone at the controls, but on the ground, everything relies on solidarity and exchange. The collective is essential, whether for organizing sessions or for moments of sharing after the flights. 
Flying together over long distances creates unique bonds, a true aerial fraternity that requires coordination, anticipation, and resilience. It happens that a comrade lands in the middle of nowhere, sometimes a hundred kilometers away: that’s also the volunteer spirit. 
Free flying has taught me to put values into practice that I also apply to my job: rigor, anticipation, responsibility, and progression in stages. Pushing yourself, yes, but always with lucidity. The slightest excess can have consequences. 
My associative commitment pushes me to support other enthusiasts in their own journey. It’s much more than a sport: it’s a human adventure, a process of self-discovery. Seeing the joy in the eyes of someone leaving the ground for the first time, feeling that genuine emotion... it is unforgettable.

And outside of all that?
I have several personal projects: opening my own workshop one day to work with leather, wood, and metal, or going on a Hike & Fly bivouac. The idea? Progressing by hang glider or paraglider according to the weather, alternating between flights and local discoveries. Another way to travel, driven by the wind and freedom.