CONTEXT

Solar Impulse was founded in 2004 with the ambition to realise the first round-the-world flight with an airplane propulsed with solar power only. The project took place in two phases. The first phase consisted in the realization of the Solar Impulse 1 airplane that proved to possibility to fly a 24h cycle using only solar energy in summer 2010. The second phase was the realization of the Solar Impulse 2 that successfully completed the circumnavigation of the world in summer 2016.

The project lasted 12 years, beneficiated from a CHF 100 millions budget and kept 70 persons busy in 2012 and up to 150 during the round-the-world mission.

ACHIEVEMENTS

1. Team member in charge of project management during the first phase and responsible of mission flights logistics during the second phase.
2. Phase 1: Definition of the project, preparation of the airplane requirements specification, detailed scheduling, risks management, project team coordination and reports to the steering committee.
3. Phase 2: Definition of the project, preparation of the requirements specifications of all logistics items and in particular the inflatable hangar, supply and test of the items, training of the ground team and implementation during the mission flights.

Philippe Lauper, Project guide

To this day, Solar Impulse was the biggest project I participated to. It’s the first one that allowed me to apply the project management method and tools in a very broad and complex context. This project also largely inspired me the creation of the Circular Project Management method and still is a perfect example and big conversation topic during my trainings.

All references