Discover People at Soitec

Samuel Doucet, Integration Technician at Soitec Lab since March 2025, has completed one of the most demanding ultra-trails in the world: 330 km, 25,000 m of elevation gain, and 96 hours of running across the Italian Alps. The result: 46th out of 1,200. An exploit!
Based in Villard-de-Lans, he talks about how he balances professional commitment, family life, and physical achievement.


The legacy of a passion
Passionate about the semiconductor world, Samuel worked for 10 years at STMicroelectronics in the quality department before joining the CEA in 2022. Seeking to get closer to the heart of innovation and operations, he joined Soitec Lab in March 2025 as an Integration Technician.

But his second passion is trail running. I've always been immersed in this world thanks to my uncles who participated in the most emblematic races. Their stories made me dream and made me want to get started. After twenty years of football, I discovered trail running in 2013 during the Grand Duc de Chartreuse. Since then, I've never stopped.

This passion takes up a significant place in his life: My training represents about 15 hours of sport per week. To reconcile this with my family life, I have to be meticulously organized. I maximize training in 'masked time' by running or cycling to work (at the CEA in Grenoble) from Villard-de-Lans (in the Vercors). Leaving early in the morning, before the children wake up, allows me to gain precious training hours without encroaching on family activities during the weekend.

This discipline has given me a great capacity for adaptation and perseverance, qualities that serve me daily in my assignments at Soitec.


The Tor des Géants: a challenge successfully met
My biggest challenge so far has been the Tor des Géants, a legendary ultra-trail in the Italian Alps. My father-in-law, who participated twice in this race about ten years ago, described his experience and the magnificent landscapes to me, which really made me want to take part. I promised myself I would do it before I turned 40, and it's done!

This 330-kilometer race with 25,000 meters of elevation gain represented a significant leap from his previous maximum of 180 km (the UT4M Challenge, around Grenoble).

To prepare for it, I focused on elevation gain and accumulated more than 100,000 meters of positive vertical gain during my training before the race. However, I was careful not to increase the mileage too much, my goal being to arrive fit and without injury. My priority in participating in this race was the human adventure and the pleasure of discovering the landscapes, without setting a specific time goal.

The experience was incredible. I crossed the finish line after 96 hours of running, placing 46th out of nearly 1,200 starting runners. I was very surprised not to have experienced any moments of mental doubt. The inevitable physical pains, especially in the knees and feet, only began to manifest seriously beyond the 250th kilometer. My mental acceptance of suffering, a result of my preparation, allowed me to overcome them. At the finish line, the adrenaline and the support of my loved ones and the other runners erased all pain and were a source of immense emotion and satisfaction.
Even my colleagues at Soitec followed my race and watched my arrival, which was broadcast live online!


Next challenge: the Diagonale des Fous in 2026 in La Réunion
The Tor des Géants taught me that the body is capable of much more than we imagine and that the mental aspect is more important than the physical in ultra-endurance.

My next big challenge: the mythical Diagonale des Fous, in La Réunion, in 2026. Although this race is twice as short (181 km), ultra-trail running always holds its share of the unexpected. The terrain, nutrition, and conditions change everything. I am ready to take on this new challenge for the pleasure of the race and to reunite with my family, who recently moved to the island.