Expert's take

The electronics industry: from science fiction to Research & Development,
with Stéphane Henry

17 September 2020

LACROIX Electronics

Innovation Markets Offer Smart industry Strategy

We give Carte Blanche to Stéphane Henry, who has been Executive Vice President for Research and Development at LACROIX since 2019.

Together with him, we enter the world of industrial research, in which the Electronics activity has a special place. He unveils the entire programme to us, including societal challenges, industrial connected objects and even science fiction.

Nowadays, it is important to work with people who are interested in science fiction. It is highly likely that some of their ideas will exist for real in 5, 10 or 20 years.

If I had Carte Blanche, I would combine my passion for electronics and development with my commitment to protecting the planet. This is possible, for example, thanks to the products developed at LACROIX.

Stéphane Henry
Executive Vice President of Research and Development at LACROIX

From science fiction to Research & Development

R&D: tackling societal issues through electronics

According to Stéphane Henry, the main R&D issues for LACROIX are societal challenges, seeking to improve our environment in particular. He takes the example of water management, and the fact that electronics can be used to identify certain leaks in pipes.

We have been working on these societal issues for years, mainly through our City and Environment activities. Nowadays, we feel that this need has accelerated in electronics, in terms of the IoT, with the deployment of smart sensors within our environment, for example.

Enthusiasm for the Industrial IoT, and the acquisition of eSoftThings

Stéphane Henry talks about changing expectations in relation to the IoT, and the position that an industrial player must occupy in this sector.

Manufacturers need to position themselves over time, with products that can last up to 15 years. They must be robust, reliable and not consume too much energy.

Here at LACROIX, we have been developing industrial IoTs for our customers for many years. Now, with the acquisition of eSoftThings we have been able to strengthen our expertise in Industrial IoT, with many different skills (computer vision and artificial intelligence, for example).

R&D: synergy and time frames

At LACROIX, when developing our products, we integrate the R&D teams, as well as marketing and certain external players (academics and partners), while still following a technological roadmap.

Our goal, of course, is to provide electronics to our customers. However, these electronics must be able to respond to certain use cases.

Research and Development sometimes takes place within different time frames:

Long term: research regarding technological needs in 3 – 4 years’ time
Short term: development relating to product applications for our customers, with prototyping, followed by the industrialisation phase

Flashback to Knight Rider…

You watched Knight Rider, and you read science fiction books where flying objects were self-guided… But at the time when these science fiction stories were created, did you ever think for a second that an autonomous vehicle could really exist? Nowadays, that’s possible…

Stéphane Henry, Executive Vice President of Research and Development at LACROIX: a short bio

Stéphane Henry joined LACROIX in 2019 as Executive VP, Research & Development. Drawing on his experience working at ST Microelectronics, NXP, Philips and Siemens, now, his mission is to coordinate and strengthen the R&D synergies within the company.

This article is available in a French podcast.
Enjoy your listening!

About Carte Blanche

In Carte Blanche, the LACROIX podcast that connects you to the electronics industry of the future, guests share their vision of the Smart Industry and the future of the industrial IoT, taking us behind the scenes of electronic design and production. They will share their own experiences and talk all about this 4.0 company.

What will the industry of the future look like? How can we support this major transformation? What are the key industrial challenges of tomorrow? All these questions will be answered by the employees of the Electronics activity of LACROIX, given Carte Blanche in this podcast.

Carte Blanche is available in French on the usual platforms: Deezer, Spotify, Youtube, Google Podcasts, Ausha and SoundCloud.

Carte Blanche – Season 1

Carte Blanche #1 – Stéphane Klajzyngier – On our way to 2020!

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Carte Blanche #2 – Emmanuel Thommerel – Industry in the age of data

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Carte Blanche #3 – Dominique Maisonneuve – A look at the Smart Industry

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Carte Blanche #4 – Emmanuelle Landru – Thoughts from an engaged plant manager

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Carte Blanche #5 – Stéphane Henry – The electronics industry: research and science fiction

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Carte Blanche #6 – Benjamin Gauchenot – A passion for operational excellence

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Carte Blanche – Season 2

In this new season, we are placing a special emphasis on our customers, our suppliers and our business ecosystem as a whole. You will also discover unexpected answers to a game of twenty questions…
The Carte Blanche format remains the same: engaged the employees of the Electronics activity of LACROIX who spend 7 minutes sharing their experiences.