Julien Daligault — InnoVentum

This is the second interview in a series "Who are we at InnoVentum?" of informal conversations with the InnoVentum Team members. Check out the first interview with Jacky Parkhouse here.

Today our focus is on Julien Daligault – one of the long-standing InnoVentum team members who joined us in the early days. He knows everything that there is to know about small wind turbines and hybrid wind-solar installations! Julien, together with Lucas, organised and carried out multiple installations in Sweden and abroad (including the all-important COP22 carports!), he is always creative and often finds solutions that are outside the box. Julien has a lovely sense of humour and keeps the spirits in the team high even when the times are challenging.

Below you will find my interview with Julien.

Ala Kazlova (AK): Tell us a little bit about yourself – what is your background, family history, education, travels, interests in life – please make a small introduction.

Julien Daligault (JD): Born in France in 82, I spent my first 18 years in the city close to Versailles. After the A-level diploma, I moved to Rennes (Brittany) for 2 years and Swansea (Wales) also for 2 years to finally get a B.Eng in Mechanical Product Design. After 4 years of university, I was accepted to do an internship at UNIDO in Vienna for almost a year. While dealing with various projects related to the lack of energy access in the developing countries, I decided to focus my career on the renewable energy industry. This led me to do a Master in Sustainable Energy Engineering at KTH, Stockholm. For the master thesis, I decided to get out of Europe and ended up spending one year in Hangzhou at the UN branch promoting small hydropower. China was treating me so well that I decided to stay and found the opportunity to do a V.I.E in Shanghai for 2 years for a French company manufacturing parts for megawatt wind turbines and one more year in Yangzhou as a consultant for small wind turbines.

I am married and I have 2 daughters: Chloé and Noémie.

AK: When did you join InnoVentum?

JD: I joined InnoVentum in 2011 (as the third full-time employee - AK)

AK: Why did you decide to join InnoVentum?

JD: After spending several years on the production side, I was seeking new experience in project implementation. Sigvald gave me directly the opportunity to manage full projects including sales, sourcing for the innovative energy solutions, logistics, installation, commissioning… The approach of using renewable material in a way that was never done before was also very interesting. Having kids was also a good reason of moving back to Sweden “the best country for expat families to raise children” ☺

AK: What is it that you like about your job at InnoVentum?

JD: Possibility to manage various parts of the project. Happy customers after installing our solutions. Travelling and meeting new interesting people.

AK: What would you like to improve in the future?

JD: More team building events!

AK: A couple of words about the team at InnoVentum - please share your thoughts.

JD: Friendly and multicultural team (a concise response by an engineer - indeed, just a couple of words! 🙂 - AK)

AK: What are your top 3 biggest achievements at InnoVentum?

JD: #1_ Installations in remote locations: 2600 m Swiss mountain; top of the hill with no crane access in Manila; small island in Sri Lanka… #2_ Finding serious distributors to promote InnoVentum solutions #3_ Providing reliable green energy to people without access to energy

AK: Now we’ve learnt about your role at InnoVentum, it is time to reveal some aspects of your personality (in a playful light-hearted way, of course)! Please answer some questions of the Proust Questionnaire:

(The Proust Questionnaire has its origins in a parlour game popularised (though not devised) by Marcel Proust, the French essayist and novelist, who believed that, in answering these questions, an individual reveals his or her true nature.)

AK: 1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

JD: Everything comes to you at the right time. Be patient and trust in the process.

AK: 2. What is your greatest fear?

JD: Something happening to my family

Project "Who are we at InnoVentum?"

Introduction: Julien Daligault

Working at InnoVentum

Proust Questionnaire