Catherine Delcroix, building the future with the ENSTA Foundation

Just imagine. It is the late 1960s and young women make up less than 5 per cent of engineering school cohorts. Catherine Delcroix, then a young school-leaver driven by the ambition to see major projects through to completion, nevertheless made the courageous choice to embark on this path.

After sitting the entrance exams to choose which engineering school she would attend, Catherine Delcroix initially envisaged her future in terms of the sector her future training would enable her to join. What she wanted was to be involved in major industrial projects. Ships, offshore platforms and maritime infrastructure held a far greater appeal for her than electronic circuits. So Telecom was out; she opted for Naval Engineering, one of the major and prestigious specialisms at the then-newly established ENSTA, the direct successor to the École Nationale Supérieure of the same name.

After helping to unlock the North Sea’s potential at a time when Europe was facing its first oil crisis, Catherine Delcroix returned to shore, taking on the management of engineering projects and holding senior executive roles for various groups.

A member of the ENSTA alumni association since graduating from the School, Catherine Delcroix has always been deeply involved in its work, even serving as its president from 1997 to 2001.

“I was already very involved in the School’s Students’ Union, and for me it was only natural to continue this commitment after graduating. On the one hand, I’ve always been drawn to voluntary work, and it seemed essential to me to maintain friendly ties beyond each graduating class. It’s also, together with the other members of the association, an opportunity to reflect on how the School and its degree programme are evolving to meet the needs and expectations of society, towards which we have a clear responsibility.”

This commitment has never wavered. Having served on the alumni association, she now wishes to put her experience to use for the benefit of future generations through the ENSTA Foundation.

However, the strategic focus of the ENSTA Foundation where Catherine Delcroix’s experience will be most valuable is undoubtedly innovation and business creation.

“I have always enjoyed reflecting on issues of innovation and business strategy, and since 2016 I have been a Business Angel with BADGE, the Business Angels of the Grandes Écoles, where I served as vice-president until June 2026. Within the Foundation, I will pay particular attention to students’ projects that have the potential to develop into genuine business ventures, and to how we can help bring them to fruition.”

Having spent decades helping to build infrastructure and businesses, Catherine Delcroix now intends to play a part in nurturing the entrepreneurial engineers of tomorrow, regardless of their social and cultural backgrounds. Ultimately, this is another way of continuing to build the future.