The Prix Pierre Faurre 2024 awarded to Claire Fauvarque Nuytten (X2009), specialist in elastomer processes

A graduate of École Polytechnique Cycle Ingénieur Program (class X 2009) and of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (2014), Claire Fauvarque Nuytten joined the Michelin Group's Research and Development Operations Department in 2014.

Within the Michelin Group, Claire Fauvarque Nuytten is recognized for her scientific curiosity, her leadership and her ability to mobilize collective intelligence on subjects related to innovation for sustainable mobility.

Very attached to her School, she has mentored École Polytechnique students over the past three years, a way of strengthening Michelin's attractiveness to graduates and developing links between the world's leading tire manufacturer and École Polytechnique.

While synthetic elastomers are a major technology for creating a sustainable tire, from design to end-of-life, Claire Fauvarque Nuytten has distinguished herself by developing new patented sustainable elastomers, thanks to an innovative process that she has deployed from pilot to industrial scale.

Offering significant gains in rolling resistance, these breakthrough elastomers now account for around 20% of Michelin's production volumes, helping to reduce the environmental impact of mobility.

Since 2022, Claire Fauvarque Nuytten has been in charge of new elastomer process developments. In particular, she is in charge of project management for the design of new-generation elastomers and their transition to renewable or recycled raw materials.

As part of the BioButterfly program, a multi-stakeholder partnership between Michelin, IFP Energies Nouvelles and Axens, she is responsible for integrating a biobased monomer into Michelin elastomers. 

In 2024, Claire Fauvarque Nuytten helped produce the first batch of elastomers from this monomer. This will make it possible to manufacture passenger car tires with the same performance, especially in terms of rolling resistance, as its petrosourced equivalent. To offer products that respect the environment, Michelin is aiming for production using 40% renewable or recycled materials by 2030, with a target of 100% by 2050.

To honor the memory of Pierre Faurre (X 1960), who passed away in 2001, a member of the France Académie des Sciences and Chairman of the Board of Directors of École Polytechnique, several of the major companies that founded the Fondation de l'École polytechnique have set up a fund dedicated to awarding an annual prize. The Pierre Faurre prize is awarded to a young polytechnicien who has developed an innovative activity or project within his or her company, and whose early career demonstrates a combination of technical mastery, management skills and success in an international context.