Étienne Bolze — From Art to Electricity

May 3 2016

Laurence Rocher-Brassard

Étienne Bolze, multilinguist, is a young professional in the electrical industry.

Étienne joined the industry at age 24, as Communications Coordinator at Convectair. He still holds this position two years later. Among his previous positions, he was an online account editor a director’s assistant in an art gallery.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor in Arts Administration from Bishop’s University. He has also taken economics courses from Concordia University and has a certificate in International Art Law, Art as an alternative Investment from the Sotheby’s Institute of Art.

Étienne confides that working in the electrical industry had never occurred to him. He had thought instead of working for multinationals, such as Procter & Gamble, IBM and Google, or consulting firms such as BCG or McKinsey. “I realize now that perhaps my vision was restricted, when in reality our scope of action here is much broader. I am now aware of major challenges facing our industry and I am very pleased to be able to participate.”

The person behind the employee

Asked what he has learned from his successes and mistakes, he mentions the importance of working as a team, asking the right questions, showing humility, and loving what you are doing. “I would say that my mistakes are mainly due to the lack of one or all of these factors while I was doing something.”

For Étienne, surrounding himself with the right people and sharing a common vision is important: “When motivated people are equipped with a pragmatic lens and work together, the results can only be interesting.”

He has many passions. Currently, learning foreign languages and travel are on his priority list. In addition to French and English, he speaks Italian and Spanish. He is now challenging himself with Mandarin and Portuguese. Hats off!

His green vision for the electrical industry

Étienne advises all those who would like to work in this industry to sign up: “There are many Interesting projects and challenges.”

Currently, new technologies applied to mastering energy, such as the IoT, have a particular hold on his attention. “The aspect of industry that attracts me the most is its potential to create a more efficient, greener and cleaner world.”

There are many examples of technological developments that he hopes to see predominate. As examples, he mentioned the Powerwall domestic energy storage tool presented by Elon Musk in 2015, or alternatively, the hard-hitting book by Rudy Provoost, current president and CEO of Rexel Group, Energy 3.0: Transforming the world of energy for growth. Published in 2013, this book discusses the energy efficiency of buildings and cities in an era where digital and energy meet.

“It’s not just about products, but also ideas and ways of thinking, to see the world and the city. In these developments, I see possibilities for the electrical industry to contribute to a more efficient and cleaner world. I am proud to think that I can contribute to this vision.”

Laurence Rocher-Brassard is the Editor of EIN’s sister publication: Le monde de l’électricité en ligne