Mario El-Khoury
Born (1963-03-12) March 12, 1963
Lebanon
Alma materEcole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Carnegie-Mellon University
OccupationEngineer
Spouse(s)Véronique El-Khoury Mercier
AwardsFellow of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)
Position helddirector general (Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology, 2009–2021) Edit this on Wikidata

Mario El-Khoury (born 12 March 1963 in Maghdouché, Lebanon) is a Lebanese-Swiss engineer, cited as a Digital Shaper by the economic magazine Bilanz in 2020,[1] and among the 100 most important personalities of the Swiss economy in 2019 and 2020.[2][3]

He has been the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) from November 2009 to February 2021.[4]

Biography

Education

Mario El-Khoury studied engineering at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and at Carnegie-Mellon University (Pittsburgh, USA). He graduated from EPFL (Dipl. El.-Ing., 1987, and Doctorate in Science, 1991). He is also a graduate of HEC Lausanne (MBA, 2000).[5]

He received the Dipl. El.-Ing. degree from EPFL in 1987, the Doctorat ès Sciences degree from EPFL in 1991,[6] and the Master of Business Administration degree from HEC Lausanne in 2000.

Career

From 1992 to 1994, he worked at Portescap in La Chaux-de-Fonds as a project manager. In 1994, he joined CSEM as head of the "Industrial Control" sector. In 2003, he became vice president of the System Engineering. In 2019, he was appointed CEO of CSEM at the age of 46.[5]

He was a member of the board of directors of the Neuchâtel Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CNCI) from 2010 to 2021,[7] a member of the university council of the University of Neuchâtel from 2010 to 2017,[8] and a member of the board of directors of Jade Invest SA from 2010 to 2019.[9]

CEO of the CSEM

On November 1, 2009, Mario El-Khoury was appointed CEO of the CSEM by the Board of Directors, chaired by Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier. As of his arrival, he had to settle the problem of the Solar Island project in Ras El-Khaima (United Arab Emirates), which was the subject of much controversy.[10][11]

During his years at the head of the CSEM, he became known for his stance in favor of maintaining a strong manufacturing activity in Switzerland, a source of prosperity and social cohesion.[12][13] For him, only technological innovation and digitalization can ensure the sustainability of the Swiss industry,[14][15] which is mainly composed of small and medium entreprises (SMEs).[16] His team played a fundamental role in the development of the first connected watch with the Swiss Made label.[17]

Committed to the promotion of renewable energies, he launched in 2012 together with EPFL president Patrick Aebischer the PV-Center at CSEM. This applied research center is supported by the Swiss confederation to foster innovation in photovoltaics.[18] Its new cleanroom facilities were inaugurated in 2016.[19] Mario El-Khoury raised the Swiss public awareness of the energy consumption of bitcoin mining and the need to find alternatives to the Proof of work mining method.[20][21]

Under his leadership, the staff of the research center increased from 387 in 2009 to 525 in 2021.[4][17]

Marriage and children

El-Khoury is married to Véronique El-Khoury Mercier. They are parents of two children.[5]

Recognition

References

  1. ↑ "Digital Shapers 2020 | BILANZ". Handelszeitung (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  2. ↑ "Who is Who 2019 | BILANZ". Handelszeitung (in German). Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  3. ↑ "Who is Who 2020 | BILANZ". Handelszeitung (in German). Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  4. 1 2 "Alexandre Pauchard Succeeds Mario El-Khoury as CSEM CEO". Printed Electronics Now. 2020-09-10. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  5. 1 2 3 Philippe, Le Bé (2014-10-23). "Mario El-Khoury: le chercheur qui galvanise les entreprises suisses". hebdo130.rssing.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  6. ↑ El-Khoury, Mario (1991). Influence des zéros d'une fonction de transfert sur le comportement dynamique d'un système linéaire et application au réglage polynomial (in French). Lausanne: EPFL.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  7. ↑ "Notifications Chambre neuchâteloise du commerce et de l'industrie (CNCI) - Neuchâtel 1". Moneyhouse. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  8. ↑ Rectorat de l'Université de Neuchâtel, ed. (2011). Rapport de gestion 2010 (PDF) (in French). Neuchâtel. pp. 9, 60.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ↑ "Jade Invest SA, Neuchâtel 1, Switzerland". www.northdata.com. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  10. ↑ "Solar Island, l'île solaire du CSEM en faillite". www.2000watts.org (in French). 2009-12-27. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  11. ↑ Kuenzi, Françoise (2010-06-19). "Nouvel actionnaire horloger de poids pour le CSEM". L'Express. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  12. ↑ "Délocaliser l'industrie menace la recherche". 24 heures (in French). 2016-09-04. ISSN 1424-4039. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  13. ↑ Hauert, Valérie (2019-02-25). ""L'important est de commencer, d'attraper le virus de la digitalisation"". rts.ch (in French). Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  14. ↑ Christinaz, Caroline (2019-01-29). "Pour Mario El-Khoury, du CSEM, l'innovation peut sauver l'humanité, et l'économie suisse". Le Temps (in French). ISSN 1423-3967. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  15. ↑ Gachet, Stéphane (2017-08-28). "Les PME suisses ne sont pas démunies face à la complexité de la numérisation" (PDF). L'Agefi. pp. 1, 7. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  16. ↑ "Figures on SMEs: Companies and jobs". www.kmu.admin.ch. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  17. 1 2 Flaherty, Nick (2020-10-12). "Swiss lab CSEM appoints new CEO - eeNews Europe". EENewsEurope. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  18. ↑ Nussbaum, François (2011-06-17). "Un centre solaire naîtra à Neuchâtel" (PDF). L'Express (in French). p. 3. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  19. ↑ "CSEM inaugurates new facilities at its photovoltaic laboratory in Switzerland". www.cleanroomtechnology.com. 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  20. ↑ El-Khoury, Mario (2020-12-21). "Le bitcoin: une coûteuse fantaisie mathématique et financière". Le Temps (in French). ISSN 1423-3967. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  21. ↑ Gerbl, Erich (2021-02-02). "Quant-Signaturen wären der Tod des Bitcoins". Bilanz (in German). Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  22. ↑ "Awards". EPFL. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  23. ↑ "About". BioAlps. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  24. ↑ "Members: SATW". www.satw.ch. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
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