Jacques Lewiner Crédits : ESPCI ParisTechProfessor and Honorary Scientific Director of ESPCI ParisTech, and director of the School’s LEG (Electrical engineering laboratory), Jacques Lewiner recently received the Grand Prize awarded by L’Usine Nouvelle and Industrie & Technologies (with the French National Council of Engineers and Scientists) for his career achievements. Jacques Lewiner holds the record for the number of patents filed by a single individual (over a thousand!) as opposed to a legal person, and a large number are used in industry. In addition to being an inventor, Jacques Lewiner is also an indefatigable entrepreneur.
Contributions range across the fields of medical imaging, telecommunications, chemical synthesis, home automation, smoke detection and fire protection, and the Internet. Professor Lewiner (who teaches solid-state physics and electromagnetism) is the co-founder of firms including Eos Imaging, Finsecur, Roowin, Cynove, Cytoo, Withings, and Sculpteo. Another firm, Inventel, was purchased by Thomson in 2005.
To learn more:
Jacques Lewiner in four dates
1968: researcher at CNRS
1973: professor at ESPCI ParisTech
1980: is joined by Prof. Georges Charpak at the LEG (general electricity) laboratory
1987: appointed Scientific Director of ESPCI ParisTech by Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
The article on Jacques Lewiner in l’Usine Nouvelle and the special dossier (in french) on 2010 award winners.
Innovation and inventions: two key traditions at ESPCI ParisTech