Laurence Dufrancatel joined Faurecia (now Forvia) in 2000, just as the equipment manufacturer was getting serious about decarbonization. She immediately placed herself at the heart of this transition.
“We have a net zero carbon target in 2045, that’s tomorrow!” says in a cheerful tone the engineering director of Materi’Act, the sustainable materials subsidiary of Forvia, based on the LyonTech-la Doua campus (Rhône) since the end of 2023. An engineer and doctor in chemistry (Mines Douai, University of Lille), this native of the Bay of Somme first worked for Total’s R&D in Lacq (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), before joining Faurecia, in order to set up expertise on polymers.
In 2008, she headed the first team responsible for developing alternatives to plastic. “There were two of us, today we are 35 researchers,” indicates the one who, at 52, is one of the four senior experts of the equipment manufacturer. The year 2008 marks the birth of Nafilean, a range of bio-sourced polymers based on hemp, an easy-to-grow plant, economical in water, “and which does not compete with human food”, emphasizes this mother of two daughters.
Laurence Dufrancatel has contributed to the filing of around twenty patents, including twelve on Nafilean. CEO Patrick Koller nicknames her Madame Nafilean! The range now equips 10 million vehicles from Stellantis, Renault, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar Land Rover. “German manufacturers are interested,” specifies the director of engineering, also vice-president of the French Society of Polymer Engineers.
The work that characterizes her
The book “A life”by Simone Veil
“Her courage, her perseverance in a very masculine environment, the way she managed her professional and personal life, her desire to push the limits, inspire me.”
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
