We are a group of PhDs and entrepreneurs who share the same vision to use technologies developed in our Research Laboratories to have a meaningful impact on the environment.




Erwan Pannier
Co-founder & CTO

Erwan is the Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Spark.

Erwan did his Ph.D in the Plasma group of the EM2C Laboratory at CentraleSupélec and as invited researcher at Stanford​, where he developed the Cold Nanopulsed Plasma technology for energy applications.

He led Spark’s Lab program, built the Lab prototypes and won the 2022 French Innovation i-Lab Prize for his work.

 

Patrick Peters
Co-founder & CEO

Patrick is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Spark.

Patrick has over 20 years of experience in management, finance and business development in the environmental and energy sectors.

Prior to Spark, he was CEO of the biogas subsidiary of Suez (150 employees & €45m invested in green energy) and CEO of Adionics, a lithium extraction company, where he scaled the team from 10 to 30, deployed 3 industrial pilots and raised €12m.

 

Florian Tochon
Chief of Staff

Florian is Spark’s Swiss Army knife. He supports Patrick in business development, administrative and financial management, fundraising, team management and recruitment.

Prior to Spark, he completed a Master’s degree in Management and Corporate Finance, complemented by a MSc in Technology at CentraleSupelec. He has had several experiences as an investor and operations analyst in Venture Capital funds.

 

Bilal Hadji
Mechanical Engineer

Bilal is the mechanical engineer of Spark, he is in charge of finding design solution and industrialize spark’s plasma process.

Prior to Spark, Bilal worked 4 years at Thales Communications & Security as an apprentice, designing hyperfrequencies systems and antennas using additive manufacturing. He then worked 3 years in the medical device industry creating a PCR device, he was responsible of the consumable, optics and the motorized module.

 

Raghed Bejjani
Plasma Engineer and Experimental Scientist

Raghed, is a Plasma Engineer and Experimental Scientist at Spark R&D.

With dual Ph.D. degrees in physics, Raghed brings over 7 years of experience in applying physics and engineering principles to a wide range of projects, spanning hermetic systems, electromagnetism, high voltage, detectors, optical diagnostics, and plasma physics.

 

Jean Maillard
Researcher

Jean is a Ph.D student in the nonequilibrium plasma group.

Jean develops optical diagnostics to better understand the nanosecond plasma dissociation mechanisms in CO2-CH4 mixtures. He uses this expertise to provide key insights for on-going Spark R&D campaigns.

 

Pierre-Antoine Goutier
Plasma Engineer

Pierre-Antoine is optimizing the energetic cost of the reaction, as well as increasing the selectivity of wanted products.

He is using theoretical and numerical tools to help him achieve his tasks.

 

Sara Delahaie
Experimental Plasma Intern

Before specializing in energy efficiency at CentraleSupélec engineering school, Sara gained experience in thermal modeling for the building industry and later developed her experimental skills for atmospheric re-entry.

Sara now works in the plasma team on instrumentation and the understanding of physical phenomena.

 



Advisers


Alain Honnart
Former Industrial Director at Vallourec

A graduate of CentraleSupélec, Harvard University and HEC, Alain Honnard was successively Industrial Director of Vallourec and Managing Director of Metalvalue Ltd.

He has an extensive industrial network & strong experience in industrial innovation

 

Christophe Laux
Professor at Paris-Saclay

We are pleased to have Christophe Laux as a technical adviser on our board.

Christophe Laux is a Stanford graduate and has 20 years of experience in nonequilibrium plasma research in CentraleSupélec, Laboratoire EM2C where he is the lead of the nonequilibrium plasma team. He is also the adviser in Airity Technologies,  another start-up building High Power Power Supply for plasma physics.

 

Khaled Hassouni
Professor at CNRS

Khaled Hassouni is a physicist and physico-chemist of non-equilibrium plasmas.

He is a world-specialist in plasma-assisted carbon production (nucleation, diamond synthesis, etc.)