Bertrand Piccard is the initiator and visionary behind Solar Impulse, the very first airplane capable of flying perpetually without fuel. It is in his DNA to go beyond the obvious and achieve the impossible as he did with his two round-the-world flights, recently in a solar-powered airplane, and before that non-stop in a balloon. The ocean depths and the stratosphere attracted his father and grandfather; the challenges of our time fascinate him. Since he launched the first flight around the world in a solar airplane, his ambition has been to leverage a pioneering spirit for a useful contribution to the cause of renewable energies and clean technologies. With his dual identities as medical doctor and explorer, Bertrand has become a voice heard among the most distinguished institutions across the globe as a forward-thinking leader for progress and sustainability.
With his dual identities as doctor and explorer, Bertrand Piccard has become highly sought after throughout the world as a speaker. Using his aerial exploits as a backdrop, Bertrand Piccard illustrates his concept of the psychology of life, human communication, team-work, motivation, pioneering spirit, as well as how to deal with stress, uncertainty and crises. At the request of some audiences, he also covers medical topics such as the use of hypnosis and self-hypnosis.
Since 1992, he has featured at several hundred public or private gatherings in America, Asia, Europe and Africa. In his headline lecture entitled “Adventure is a state of mind: the metaphor of the first around-the-world balloon flight”, Bertrand Piccard explains how flying in a balloon symbolises a new relationship between humans, technology and nature.
In this metaphor of life, the balloon is prisoner of the air currents, just as man is prisoner of his convictions, problems or fate. But in the same way as a balloon changes altitude to find the currents that will drive it in a new direction, man can rise professionally, psychologically, philosophically or even spiritually, to become responsible for the direction of his life.
