Franck Balducchi, Ph.D

Franck Balducchi, Ph.D. has extensive experience in the field of engineering. Franck began their career in 2010 as a PhD Candidate at the French Space Agency, where they performed theoretical and experimental analysis of two aerodynamic, highly non-linear, fluid film bearings. Their technical skills included turbomachinery, rotordynamics, high speed rotating machinery architecture and components, tribology, fluid film bearing and seals, dynamics, structural and modal analysis, damping, vibration monitoring, instrumentation of experiments, data acquisition and post-treatment, FEA analysis, CAD mechanical design, SolidWorks, MathCAD, LabVIEW, and Fortran. Additionally, they were responsible for supplier selection and negociation, planning, progress monitoring, risk management, and resolving issues. Franck also had experience in team management and communication, as they presented to experts in international conferences, wrote technical papers, and lead graduate students projects.

In 2013, Franck Balducchi, Ph.D. began working at Hutchinson as a Technical Manager for Vibration and Shock. Finally, from 2015 to present, they have been the CTO and Head of Technology at Weedingtech Ltd. Franck is responsible for the company's patented weed-control technology, Foamstream, which uses hot water and an organic foam to keep the heat on long enough to kill the weed or moss. Weedingtech has earned multiple awards for sustainable innovation and is recognised in the global market potential.

Franck Balducchi, Ph.D. began their educational journey in 2007 when they obtained a Master of Engineering from Arts et Métiers ParisTech - École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers. In 2009, they obtained a Master of Research from ENS Cachan. In 2010, they obtained a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Mechanical Engineering from Université de Poitiers. Additionally, in 2018, they obtained a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from The Knowledge Academy and in 2019 they obtained a Mastering Design Thinking certification from MIT Sloan Executive Education. Finally, in 2014, they obtained a CEng certification from IMechE North Western Region.