Several times a year, we take you behind the scenes at Sensile Technologies to meet one of our team members. Today, we invite you to meet Jean-Marc Uehlinger, COO & CTO, who celebrated his 25th year with the company last autumn.
From EPFL to technical and operational management
Jean-Marc Uehlinger’s career began in the microtechnology laboratories at EPFL. His final thesis, which focused on the optimisation of production systems and vision systems, already foreshadowed his philosophy: making processes more efficient, faster and more competitive.
He first joined Sensile Technologies as a project manager and, four years later, took over technical and operational leadership as COO and CTO, alongside Cédric Morel, who was appointed CEO. For over fifteen years, they jointly managed commercial strategy and client relations, enabling Jean-Marc to stay in direct touch with needs emerging from the field. With the expansion of the product range and, crucially, since the acquisition by WIKA Group in 2020, his role has refocused on leading R&D, with a broader portfolio featuring Sensile’s established solutions for the remote monitoring of oil, gas and chemical tanks alongside new solutions linked to WIKA’s extensive range of sensors.
A balanced approach to innovation
“In the industrial IoT sector, innovation does not lie in creating new technologies, but in identifying the optimal combination of existing technologies and using them intelligently.” Jean-Marc highlights a fundamental difference: while consumer electronics demand rapid device replacement, industrial IoT solutions require rock-solid, long-term reliability.
Such an approach requires the constant monitoring of technological development, which is why Jean-Marc is a regular visitor of conferences such as the Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona. “The arrival of 6G was announced there in early March, despite 2G still being in use in several countries,” he notes. “With regards to our equipment, which is used in the oil & gas sector across all continents, integrating this diversity in the most efficient way possible is a key undertaking”
Open and constructive technical discussions
Jean-Marc always seeks to build relationships of trust with suppliers and partners, based on concrete and transparent discussions. He talks about successes as much as he does about failures, which is also what interests him in his counterparts: “The job of an engineer is to solve problems: only real-world feedback, far removed from smooth talk, allows solutions to progress,” he asserts.
Between engineering and personal balance
Jean-Marc is fascinated by the convergence of mechanics, electronics and software, a passion he pursues both professionally and personally, particularly through designing and building drones in his spare time. His inquisitive spirit is reflected by his sporting pursuits: ice hockey, tennis, skiing, kitesurfing – he loves trying things out, having fun in understanding how they work. This dynamism stems from a fulfilling family life, with his wife and their three children.
Jean-Marc sees every challenge and every interaction as an opportunity for self-improvement. Far from any routine, he leads R&D to ensure the technological relevance of our solutions, drawing on the excellence of the Lake Geneva region and continuous exposure to international markets.