Jean Michel Karam (born 1969) is an

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

, and entrepreneur in the field of

microelectronics Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests, microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture (or microfabrication) of very small electronic designs and components. Usually, but not always, this means micrometre-sc ...

, Telecommunications, Information Technology, and Mobile devices Repair software and Hardware engineers.

Education

When he arrived in France in 1990, Karam received an Electrical Engineering degree in 1993 from the Ecole Supérieure d'Ingénieurs en Electrotechnique et Electronique de Paris (

ESIEE Paris ESIEE Paris (french: École Supérieure d'Ingénieurs en Électrotechnique et Électronique) is a grande école of engineering located in Marne-la-Vallée. The school was established in 1904 and is part of the ESIEE network of graduate schools. ...

) and a master's degree in Microelectronics from the

Université de Paris VII Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (french: Université Paris Diderot), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 197 ...

. In 1996, he received a PhD in Microelectronics from the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG).

Career

In 1994, he began his career as a research engineer at the TIMA-CM (Techniques de l'Informatique et de la Micro-électronique pour l'Architecture Informatique) laboratory in Grenoble, France. This Research & Development center associated with the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the INPG allowed him to gain his first work as a Research Director heading up a team of researchers focused on the design and fabrication methods of

microelectromechanical systems Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), also written as micro-electro-mechanical systems (or microelectronic and microelectromechanical systems) and the related micromechatronics and microsystems constitute the technology of microscopic devices, ...

(MEMS). Three years after its creation, it comprised 35 researchers for MEMS research. In November 1997, Karam founded his first company, MEMSCAP, a supplier of products based on MEMS technology. During its first two years, Karam raised more than €13 million euros from

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

in order to develop his company and finance his research programs. On March 2, 2001, MEMSCAP had its went public on the Eurolist C of the NYSE Euronext, Paris (code ISIN: FR0010298620-MEMS), raising 101 million euros (140 million US dollars), on a basis of 430 million euros of market capitalization, making his company a leading player in the market of MEMS with high added value. In 2002, Karam initiated research on applied technology in

dermatology Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medical ...

and skincare within INTUISKIN, at that time a fully owned subsidiary of his MEMSCAP Group. In 2010, in association with a group of investors and figures from the cosmetics industry, he decided to spin-off INTUISKIN from MEMSCAP. In this context, he launched the skincare brand

IOMA IOMA is a fad evidence-based skincare brand from France. It was founded in 2008 and it is now present in around 300 stores in France and in several other countries including the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), ...

, a collaboration between technology experts and

and cosmetics specialists, of which the former president of

Thierry Mugler Manfred Thierry Mugler (; 21 December 1948 – 23 January 2022) was a French fashion designer, creative director and creative adviser of Mugler. In the 1970s, Mugler launched his eponymous fashion house; and quickly rose to prominence in the fo ...

, Véra Strubi, presently a member of the board of directors. Karam is Chairman and CEO of both MEMSCAP and INTUISKIN/IOMA. He is also the president of the LEYLA charity, a non-profit association which fights against orphan or rare diseases. Additionally, Jean Michel Karam continues to be involved in innovation and research – he currently owns more than 80 patents – as well as contributing to numerous scientific and economic publications.

IEVA

In 2016, Jean Michel Karam founded IEVA with David Moulinier (currently Managing Director of IEVA) and other prominent names in the industry. IEVA is the result of the convergence of the know-how acquired over more than twenty years by its team of engineers with expertise in

, sensors, micro-mechanics and artificial intelligence and the experience of more than ten years in research and development in the field of personalized cosmetics.

Awards

Karam and his company have received over 10 international awards including: * U.S. Commercial Service (USCS) of the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...

– Award of Excellence for international commercial development (2012) * SEMICON MicroNanoSystems Innovation Award (2009)BusinessWire New
MEMSCAP Gets 2009 SEMICON Award for MicroNanoSystems Innovation
/ref> * European Semiconductor/Wacker Siltronics Award for best European start-up company (2001) *

Deloitte & Touche Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

Technology “Fast 50” First Prize for Rhone-Alps region, France (2001 and 2002) * Euronext Special Prize for “First listed company in Rhone-Alpes Region” (2002) * AGEFI Grand Prize of Venture Capitalist (2002) * The French Stock-IT Award for the company with the highest growth (2001 and 2002)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karam, Jean Michel 1969 births Living people French electrical engineers French businesspeople French people of Lebanese descent People from Matn District Research directors of the French National Centre for Scientific Research