Claude-Alain Despland

Claude-Alain Despland, Head of Materials and Detection Research & Innovation at SICPA, holds an MSc in Chemical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne/CH (EPFL), and an Executive MBA from Stanford University in California/USA.

Claude-Alain is a Swiss citizen, born in 1971. He joined SICPA’s R&D department in 1995 as an R&D chemist, then occupied different roles within this entity, and in 2021 he was appointed to his current position.

In his role, he is in charge of the following research groups on security: Features & Detection, Security Inks, R&D Services, Features Integration, Technology Portfolio Protection, Product Marking.

About 250 people worldwide contribute to the mission of the Materials and Detection entity under Claude-Alain’s responsibility. They are mostly based in Switzerland and the United States. Their skills and activities cover a broad range of scientific and technical fields, including optics, detection, ink development/formulation, material science as well as organic, inorganic and analytical chemistry.

In his different roles Claude-Alain has been a leading contributor to the development and commercial success of many security features and solutions. He is inventor or co-inventor in more than 60 different patent families.