Pascale Van Landuyt

Pascale holds a PhD and is an engineer in Materials Sciences from UCL (Belgium). She spent 9 years in academic research on materials for orthopedic applications at EPFL and UCL before becoming involved with the Enterprise Europe Network in 2000. She stayed there until 2012, with a focus on fostering collaboration between Swiss and European companies, for technology transfer and innovative product development. Since 2013, she has been an Innovation Mentor at Alliance – EPFL, where she supports companies in the innovation process, including clarification of needs and innovation potential, identification of academic competences in Switzerland, project design, information regarding possible funding and coaching of Innosuisse proposals. She is specialized in Materials Science and Medical Technologies. In parallel, she is currently in charge of industrial contacts and technology transfer for MARVEL. In her free time, she enjoys being out in nature and sports. She also has two children, 9 and 11.

Interview by Carey Sargent, EPFL, NCCR MARVEL, February 2019

The biggest challenge that women face in the workplace is... 

I don’t find a particular challenge in my current job due to the fact I am a woman. The only point is the last-minute organization needed when a child is suddenly sick and you have 30 minutes to find a solution and/or modify your entire agenda. For this reason, women develop outstanding organizational skills :-) !!

I chose to work in an academic environment because...

I chose to work in an academic environment because it is stimulating and the people are usually highly motivated. Every day you discover new projects. The international and open-minded environment is also very attractive to me.

If I were not working in my current job, I would be... 

I would be a medical doctor or a sports trainer.

My greatest achievement to date has been... 

My greatest achievement to date has been in my position of Industrial Liaison Officer, gaining the trust of my clients (companies) and to have set up large collaborations with EPFL research labs with a high level of success.