Innovative
Mathieu Despois-Renaudin loves inventing. While studying at the Faculty of Engineering at INSA Lyon, on exchange at McGill University in Canada, when he was 21, he was involved in building a solar water pumping system for isolated homes in Africa. Then in 2007, after passing through the innovation laboratories of Valeo, he obtained a patent for a hydraulic power transmission system for construction equipment at Bosch Offroad Construction, making it possible to save 5% of energy consumption. In 2018, he returned to the lab, this time at CEA, but frustrated at not seeing his prototypes come to fruition, he decided to venture into entrepreneurship, commercializing his patented battery with immersion cooling. Watalab was born.
A prefix meaning environment
He built his commitment to the environment as a teenager when he read the junior energy book Science & Vie. “I then realized that the system was limited and that it was necessary to find alternatives,” he explains. When he obtained his driving license in 1995, he sought at all costs to obtain a car that consumed the least amount of fuel possible. “It was a Citroën AX!” he recalls amused. His commitment to the environment slowly began to take shape, and amplified when he met his wife. “I am committed, but she is much more committed. She is the one who pushed me in the direction of respecting the environment.” Today, they live with their four children surrounded by nature in a mountain village.
He has altruism
Facing difficult experiences very early on, with the loss of his sister and father, he soon becomes aware of the fragility and precious nature of life. “This gradually pushed me to become more and more interested in our environment and environmental issues,” he explains. But there is no doubt he will leave anyone behind: “I want to help create a sustainable world where we can all live in dignity.” Whether it is more serious in France or developing countries. “My ambition is to serve the collective!”
practical
Whether they’re renovating their homes or innovating at work, what entrepreneurs love is working with their hands. The love of manual labor was passed on to him by his grandfather, who lent him his tools for patching. “It is in this concrete reality on the ground that I find the most relevant solutions!” It also needs this precision in its environmental commitment: “Environmental restrictions also represent an opportunity for France to regain its industrial sovereignty.” For him, who has witnessed deindustrialization since the Paris region, France has lost an enormous amount of knowledge that could be found through ecological transformation. “For me, the environment is both a planetary and an economic necessity! Otherwise we will pay dearly…”
Athlete
Football in the college, volleyball, basketball, they are on the beach, escalade, skis, and others are outdoors… This is the sport that Matthieu Desbois-Renaudin developed in his spirit. Equipped. “Collective ambition is important and I understand the mechanisms that create collective performance,” he explains. Field vocational training he applies today in Wattalps. “Seeking common solutions makes decisions more solid,” he comments.
