2014 women in industry awards: accolades for women engineers at Renault

September 19, 2014 | ID: 62160

  • The Women in Industry awards conferred by France's L'Usine Nouvelle magazine have distinguished eleven women who, through their careers, are moving French industry forward. 
  • The overall winner this year was Odile Panciatici, Senior Vice President of Vehicle Engineering at Renault, named the 2014 Woman in Industry. Béatrice Foucher, Vice President of the Electric Vehicle Programme, was nominated in the Woman in Project Leadership category. 
  • Jury member Mouna Sepehri, Renault's Executive Vice President, Office of the CEO, presented the Woman in R&D award during the ceremony.

Odile Panciatici, SVP of Vehicle Engineering at Renault, was named 2014 Woman in Industry.

The Women in Industry awards jury, presided this year by Clara Gaymard, CEO of General Electric France, handed the 2014 Woman in Industry award to Odile Panciatici, SVP of Vehicle Engineering at Renault.

This award honours Odile Panciatici for her outstanding career in vehicle design engineering. Odile Panciatici has worked at Renault for thirty years, meeting the challenge, during her time as chief engineer for the Logan from 2002 to 2006, of designing a quality car at a low cost. She went on to work on the Twingo, Clio 4 and Renault Captur. "Designing cars is my passion. I am a profoundly technical person, but I'm also very interested in managing people, helping them to surpass themselves and to do things that they didn't think they were capable of," said Odile Panciatici, currently in charge of the group's engineering projects.


Béatrice Foucher, Vice President of the Electric Vehicle Programme, was nominated for the Woman in Project Leadership award.
This year, the jury also commended Béatrice Foucher, Vice President of the Electric Vehicle Programme at Renault, nominating her in the Women in Project Leadership category. Béatrice Foucher has been with the group for 25 years. Since 2012, she has been coordinating all of the expert skills required in developing an electric vehicle. With this nomination, the Women in Industry awards have recognized her ability to orchestrate a diverse set of occupations and skills. On developing electric vehicles, she said, "It's both a societal and a technological revolution. You have to constantly question what you are doing."

Renault supports the Woman in R&D award
Created in 2011 by L'Usine Nouvelle, the annual Women in Industry awards distinguish women for their exemplary careers in industrial sectors. These women engineers, researchers, and entrepreneurs have all followed exceptional paths that encourage gender and skills diversity.


Renault implements a proactive HR policy, setting itself ambitious targets to promote diversity at all levels of the company. As a leading automobile manufacturer, Renault is also making the commitment, along with the rest of the industry, to promote career development for women. As an innovation brand, Renault, which is a partner of the Women in Industry awards, wishes to highlight the accomplishments of women working in research and development, with the 'Woman in R&D' category.

"To continue to attract talented women, we must make a group commitment - as industrial companies and industry experts and as women, of course. Recognizing women who have forged outstanding careers helps to combat preconceived ideas and is a source of inspiration and encouragement," said Mouna Sepehri as she presented the 2014 Woman in R&D award to Fabienne Lacorre, Engineering SVP at Snecma, in charge of the new generation of LEAP aircraft engines.

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