Anne-Michèle Launois : Industrial Contract Manager and Environment Specialist
The 55-year-old Anne-Michèle is Industrial Contract Manager at Actemium and is also responsible for the implementation of the environmental policy within her department. Her commercial duties include customer contacts, collaboration with the design agency and Project Managers, preparing quotes and conducting contract negotiations for customers active in the pharmaceutical and fine chemicals sector. She also works on improving the environmental performance, with solutions to reduce CO₂ emissions, and analyses of environmental data.
“You do not have to be part of the majority to be strong.”
- Name: Anne-Michèle Launois
- Age: 55
- Studies: Master of Chemical Engineering (ULB)
- Function: Industrial Contract Manager and Environment Specialist
- Hobbies: Winter sports such as skiing and ice skating, gardening, pilates, traveling
You have had a rather atypical journey, from Canada to Flanders. How has that shaped you?
Anne-Michèle: I studied Chemical Engineering at ULB and worked for almost five years in Canada on a project about deinking paper with enzymes instead of chemicals in the context of an environmental research program. That experience greatly shaped my environmental awareness. Back in Belgium, I was looking for a new challenge. As a French speaker in a mainly Dutch-speaking work environment, I had to learn to adapt, but I see this as an enrichment. My various travel experiences and the fact that I was often the only woman taught me to look at things from a different perspective. My career at VINCI Energies, since 2000, also reflects my open-mindedness. The size of the company has allowed me to consciously choose variety and growth: for example, I myself requested my current dual role in which I can combine my passion for technology and sustainability.
How do you consider your dual role within the organization to be an asset?
Anne-Michèle: I developed my passion for sustainability and engineering during my studies. I strongly believe in looking for solutions that respect both the environment and the economy; it is not a question of black or white or ‘being against everything’. Companies need to make profits, but can do so in a responsible way. Thanks to my background, with a father in the chemical industry, I understand both sides. It is all about balance: how can we work greener within the industrial reality? That is also what I am trying to realize today: making sustainable choices together with VINCI Energies and customers that fit within their operations and help the environment.
As a mother, how do you pass on your beliefs about the importance of talent and self-confidence to your daughters?
Anne-Michèle: My three daughters have each chosen their own path, medicine, management and law, and I have always encouraged them to choose whatever truly interests them. Had one of them chosen a technical education, I would have supported her with equal enthusiasm. I also notice a reappraisal of the importance of technical and manual occupations, which is absolutely necessary. My scientific studies not only increased my knowledge, but also taught me to think in a structured way, to be curious and precise, and to always look for the how and why. Personally, during my studies and in my career, I have not been held back by being one of the few women. You do not have to be part of the majority to be strong. It is precisely the different perspective, willingness to listen and cooperative spirit that women often bring, that creates more peace, clarity and respect in project teams and during negotiations. Companies profit from this: those who dare to trust in the unique capabilities of each employee, instead of sticking to gender quotas, create an environment in which talent thrives and real balance arises naturally.
