INWED 2023: seven portraits of ParisTech women entrepreneurs

The proportion of women among engineering students will reach almost 30% by 2022. According to the annual analysis published by the Femmes Ingénieures Association on Thursday 12 January 2023*, this figure has shown little progress over the last ten years, but has risen by 25% since the 1970s. Proof that the efforts already made to promote gender diversity in science, and especially in engineering studies, must be continued.

The ParisTech schools are particularly attentive to let the percentage of girls in their enrolments increase, which is now at or well above 30% for the vast majority of them. The schoolsparticularly promote engineering towards young girls from secondary school onwards or highlight the careers of women in engineering to encourage vocations. Today, the ParisTech network has decided to honour female engineering students and alumnae from the network's seven schools who have embarked on the adventure of entrepreneurship. Through their portraits, discover the career paths, motivations and challenges of Olympe, Éloise, Mégane, Lola, Alice, Laurence and Éléonore.

These women are inspiring examples for all those who wish to undertake and innovate in various fields such as the environment, energy, digital technology or finance. It's possible to study engineering and to become a CEO!

Olympe Chabert, an engineering alumna from AgroParisTech, co-founded Smartback, to minimize the financial and environmental impact of e-commerce returns and trade-ins for furniture sellers.

Read her testimonial (in French)

Éloïse Minder, a PhD student at Arts et Métiers, followed the PEIT pathway (Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation pathway) and developed the project to create a development and consultancy studio specializing in social interaction for immersive technologies.

Read her story (in French)

Mégane Muschi, an engineering alumna (class of 2016) from Chimie ParisTech - PSL is the founder of SquairTech, a deeptech start-up that works to improve air quality by using innovative technologies to combat gas pollution.

Read her story

Lola Giordani is a 2nd year engineering student in the IMI (Mathematical and Computer Engineering) department at École des Ponts ParisTech. She won the Fondation des Ponts Entrepreneurial Encouragement Prize in 2022 for her IzyLeaf project, which aims to make it easier to find second-hand vehicles via a new application.

Read her story (in French)

Alice Chougnet, an engineering alumna from ESPCI Paris - PSL, is co-founder and director of Geosophy, a start-up specialising in geo-energy. After several years experience in the oil industry, she looked for more meaning in renewable energies and embarked on the adventure of entrepreneurship with an innovation: geo-energy.

Read her story (in French)

Laurence Caisey, an engineering alumna from the Institut d'Optique, is the co-founder of "Les Cosmétiques Frais Freedge", a brand of cosmetics with 100% natural ingredients for face and body, made from freshly squeezed, organic, seasonal fruit and vegetable juices.

Read her testimonial (in French)

Éléonore Crespo is a graduate of Mines Paris - PSL and ENS Cachan. She is co-founder of Pigment, a financial planning software solution. She is one of the winners of the Institut Choiseul's Classement 100.

Read her story (in French)

*Study by the Observatoire des femmes ingénieures 2023