Home Region
Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
Undergrad Education
Imperial College London, Civil Engineering M.Eng, 2015
Previous Experience
VINCI Construction Grands Projets, Boston Analytics Group LLC
HBS Activities
Entrepreneurship Club, Le Club des Francophones, Australia New Zealand Club, European Club, Tennis Club, Wine and Cuisine Society, Energy & Environment Club, Section A Leadership
“At HBS, no day is ever dull, and every day teaches you something you’d never thought you’d learn! ”
Why did you choose this path at this point in time?
After six years of working as a civil engineer, the importance and value of adding management skills to an existing engineering and technical base became apparent to me. The MBA was the best way to acquire those skills, and to transition from an individual contributor to a manager and thought leader, while remaining in my field.
Coming to HBS is like…
Gaining admittance to the greatest continuing World Exposition. HBS attracts outstanding actors from every industry and puts them into one case method setting where debate, communication, and the sharing of different opinions are core to collaborative learning. The result is that no day is ever dull, and every day teaches you something you’d never thought you’d learn!
Being part of the HBS community is like…
Discovering whole new worlds from which you can better understand your own. The HBS community impresses me by its breadth. Think of any interest, hobby or career path, no matter how niche, and you will find like-minded students here. This extends beyond the campus: the alumni network is very active and available to MBA students. Professors and faculty are extremely available to help and mentor on projects, cases or even startup brainstorming! This is clearly a network for life, one that is here for you.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I have always been interested in building things and understanding the built environment around us. As a kid, this interest manifested itself through a deep-seated love of Legos, which culminated in my building a Lego cable-stay bridge that spanned my parents’ living room and used sewing thread as cable stays! From then on, I wanted to become a bridge builder, which pushed me to study Civil Engineering at university.
What is your favorite childhood memory?
While driving back home from a family holiday in Italy, I convinced my parents to take the over two-hour highway detour to cross the Millau Viaduct in southern France, soon after its opening. The beauty and elegance of the structure made up for the overtime in spades! I have pulled similar stunts for the Normandy Bridge in northern France, the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia, and the Rion Antirion Bridge in Greece; all are equally stunning structures.
Who is one person from your life that you admire the most today?
My mentor, advisor, and long-time friend Sébastien. We met at VINCI Construction while working on bids for new infrastructure projects in Canada. All the while, I have seen him grow and succeed in his career as a builder and manager while staying true to his convictions and iconoclastic perspectives, which make him one of the most dedicated and motivating leaders in the field. He is also a very kind, wholesome, and hardworking man, and a terrific husband and father to his wife and two sons.
What’s the best thing about your hometown?
Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a city filled with history and traditional French culture, and was the birthplace of Louis XIV. It is also a modern international hub in the suburbs of Paris, as illustrated by the school I attended there: the Lycée International. Located just outside the first-ever NATO command base, it was created to educate the children of NATO officers, and is now the top international high school in France with classes taught in over 12 languages from around the world.