Management
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Michel GrueringChairman and President, Founder SwissINSO SAMichel Gruering is a highly accomplished global executive with over 20 years of experience in international business, negotiation, strategic implementation and development. He spent a large part of his career to date in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, holding leadership positions at numerous multinational companies and humanitarian NGOs.Gruering began his career as commercial manager for Micro-Mega SA's Indian and Pacific regions, where he doubled revenues in less than two years before accepting a position as a delegate for Thailand and Cambodia at the International Committee of the Red Cross. While working for ICRC, Gruering supervised medical teams, managed refugee camps, and participated in several assessment and rescue missions for persons displaced as a result of the war in Cambodia. He then worked for International Christian Aid as Manager for Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya and in charge of relief operations in Kenya, Uganda, Zaire, Ethiopia and Somalia. Gruering left the public sector for a position with SGS Group in Geneva. Managing the company's $2.1 billion Morocco and Indonesian operations as executive director, he restructured two previously unprofitable national companies, developed relations with local government ministries and designed SGS's strategic development by country. Gruering left SGS for Sodechanges SA, a joint-venture between Renault, Aerospatiale and Bouygues Group, becoming the venture's international sales director and more than doubling revenues. Following Sodechanges, Gruering was a consultant for a variety of ventures, including start-ups in IT training solutions, economic development, food processing in Africa, and executive search. His successful management consultancy business now handles business expansion projects in the Middle East and Africa, along with other regions of the developing world, and has developed a strong network of government and NGO contacts. Gruering founded SwissINSO in 2006, managing the company's start-up process and identifying research laboratories with technologies that could be used for innovative applications. He negotiated a wide variety of cooperation, technology transfer and distribution agreements while also securing financing for the company's development. He is an acknowledged expert on issues related to sustainable energy and resources and is focused on commercializing the company's cost-effective solar-powered applications for air-cooling and water desalination/purification. Gruering is a Swiss citizen and a graduate of the Superior School of Commerce in Switzerland and holds a degree in Political Science. He is fluent in French, German and English and lives in Switzerland. |
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Dr. Yves DucommunChief Executive Officer and DirectorDr. Yves Ducommun has spent 9 years as an academic/lecturer at the University of California and the University of Lausanne. He comes to SwissINSO after 10 years as a successful CEO of an international company with 500 employees and an annual turnover of $120 million 25% EBITDA margin, and 34% growth per year over last five years. Notably, his previous experience includes 6 years as Sales and Marketing Director in the glazed curtain Wall industry. This industry supplies glass curtain wall panels that are used to cover the facades of glass buildings as part of their architectural design. On the operations management side, Dr. Ducommun has set up manufacturing plants in Switzerland and China.Dr. Ducommun has a background in Chemical Engineering from the Swiss Institute of Technology EPFL, with a specialization in Solar Energy. He holds a PhD in Applied Sciences in the field of Water Purification Mechanisms, and an MBA from IFIA Lausanne. |
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Clive HarbuttDirectorClive Harbutt is Founder and Managing Partner of SICG S.A. – Swiss Investment Consulting Group based in Geneva, Switzerland. SICG works closely with VC funds and Investors in the domains of Technology, Cleantech & Life Science to provide support on various non scientific and technical challenges which investors and companies face as they move towards their eventual liquidity crystallization.Mr. Harbutt is also co founder of Strategic Impact Consulting Group S.A., which focuses on Lean Six Sigma process improvement and Internal Controls system design, implementation and audit. He has extensive Audit, Finance and Accounting experience and held senior Corporate Finance positions in a number of blue-chip global Pharmaceutical, Biotech, Medical Device and Chemical Companies such as Pfizer, Howmedica, Serono and Firmenich. His positions have included: CFO, Head of Internal Audit, World Wide Financial Controller for Research and Pharmaceutical Development, Director of Corporate Cost Accounting, Head of Corporate Consolidation and Financial Director/Controller. He has worked in Latin America, USA and Europe. He is a member of the American International Club of Geneva and British Swiss Chamber of Commerce. He is also an ambassador for the International Organizations MBA program at the University of Geneva. Born and raised in London, England. He is a qualified accountant and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. He has lived in Switzerland for 20 years. |
Suhail K. SaadVice Chairman and DirectorA talented global executive, Mr. Saad has over three decades of experience in business development, M&A, marketing and product management. Currently advising Swiss companies on strategies for rapid business growth, Mr. Saad was previously Global Head of Business Development & M&A for Gallaher PLC, a $14.5 billion conglomerate based in London, at which he led over 50 initiatives resulting in approximately $4 billion in acquisitions. Beforehand, he spent nearly a decade with RJR Nabisco in Geneva, rising to Senior Director for International Business Development, and led turnaround efforts as Chief Marketing Officer for F.J. Burrus S.A. in the mid-1990s. Mr. Saad has also served as non-executive Board Director for Lekkerland & Co. KG, a leading German logistics company, and as a Director for three of Gallaher's operating subsidiaries.Mr. Saad brings proven global and multi-cultural talents to SwissINSO. He is fluent in English, French, German and Arabic, and has an intuitive understanding of business cultures in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He studied economics at Cornell University in New York, and holds a degree from IMD Business School in Lausanne. |
Timothy TolhurstDirectorMr. Tolhurst is a highly-experienced global executive with over 25 years of supply chain management expertise. He is currently Executive Vice President and Chief Purchasing Officer for Dutch life-sciences company DSM BV, and was previously Global Vice President, Global Supply for Firmenich SA, the largest privately-held specialty flavors and fragrances company in the world. Beforehand, Tolhurst managed global supply operations for medical-display firm Quest International, and was Vice President, Purchasing for Smithkline Beechham. A British national, Mr. Tolhurst has lived in London, Zurich, Amsterdam and Geneva. |
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Paul de BelayVice President of Sales and MarketingPaul de Belay is an experienced executive whose international career has spanned sales, business development, brand marketing and high-level account management. He has extensive experience in business development and in building and leading top-performing, multi-cultural teams, organizations and networks in Asia Pacific, Western and Eastern Europe. Paul spent twenty years at DuPont de Nemours, working closely on the global development of the company's Lycra® and Teflon® brands, running Asia-Pacific marketing and sales and eventually serving as DuPont's Global Marketing Director from 2003-2005. Following his departure from DuPont, Paul was the General Manager, Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) at Hyosung Corp., where he overhauled the European distribution network and recruited/led a sales force, resulting in a 30% jump in revenues and a 15% gain in market share. While at Hyosung, Paul was recruited by PPG Europe Sarl, a $750 million manufacturer of architectural glass and protective coatings, to become Marketing Director Protective Coatings, EMEA in 2007. In this capacity, Paul built a complete marketing organization for the company, rationalized product lines, reduced costs and repositioned PPG's brands.A graduate of Beloit College's International Relations & Economics program, Paul is a Swiss citizen and speaks French, English and German. |
Company Snapshot
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