Cowin offers consulting services in strategy, management and organization with a special expertise in the Energy value chain (electricity - all sources - gas and oil) and in Environment. It also offers special Executives coaching services in several sectors. Its founding member Colette Lewiner has more than 40 years of experiences, with deep knowledge from both the industrial operations and IT consulting.

About Colette Lewiner

I entered the Ecole Normale Supérieure (a leading French higher education school) in 1964 as a physics student. I passed the highest competitive examination level (agregation) for teachers in France in this field in 1968. I graduated as Doctor in Physics (PhD) in March 1973 and published my thesis on Abnormal Hall effect in semiconductors.
Then, while associate professor at the University of Paris (Paris VII), I worked as a solid state physics researcher in various areas, including hot electrons and semimagnetic semiconductors.

I joined Electricité de France (EDF) in November 1979 as Secretary General to the utility's Research and Development Executive Vice President. In 1982, I moved to the Fuel Procurement Department, where I was responsible first for fuel oil and then the uranium and enrichment purchases for EDF's plants. I was nominated Manager of this department in 1987. With a purchasing budget of 17 billion French francs (3,5 billion Dollars), the Fuel Department is a dominant force on the international uranium and nuclear services markets.

I created the Development and Commercial Strategy Division on February 15, 1989, becoming Electicité de France's first woman Executive Vice President. I defined EDF's commercial policy and its portfolio of new activities; negotiated the sale of electricity to EDF's leading industrial customers; and also headed the team in charge of local development of EDF's industrial wasteland.

I joined the Cogema Group (today Areva group) in 1992 becoming Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, of SGN Eurisys Group on March 23, 1992. SGN Eurisys Group, the world leader in nuclear fuel cycle engineering has under my leadership diversified significantly in other fields as Chemicals, Oil and Environment while increasing its industrial services and international activities. The Eurisys group was the foremost supplier of engineering and services to industry, with a total turnover of about 1 billion dollars and 9,000 employees including 3,000 engineers and professionals. It was operating in 50 countries, mainly in Europe, Japan and United States.

In 1998, I joined Capgemini as General Manager of Utilities Global Market Unit (electricity, water, gas). I was in charge of developing Capgemini's group presence in the Utilities Market that was undergoing important changes linked to the deregulation, new technologies and new customer services. May 2000, after the merger of Capgemini with Enst&Young, I was nominated Corporate Vice President and Global Leader of the Sector Energy, Utilities and Chemicals (Oil, Gas, Utilities and Chemicals). This sector represented 11% of the Capgemini total revenue in 2010, compared to 4% in 1998, and spans over North America, Europe and Asia Pacific and includes 11,000 consultants. The Energy, Utilities and Chemicals Global sector's ambition is to serve both global and regional clients to their satisfaction, to increase the group's market presence and to ensure a sustainable development in this important sector. In 2004, I created the global marketing unit at Capgemini, that I developed and lead until 2008. Since July 2012, I am adviser to Capgemini chairman for energy matters.

From Septembre 2010 to April 2015, I have been non-executive chairwomen of TDF, a large European broadcasting company.

I am the founder and general manager of COWIN, a consulting company.

I am also the former president of the European Nuclear Society. The European Nuclear Society is an association of 26 learned societies gathering more than 20,000 professionals working on nuclear energy. The goal of this association is to promote and contribute to the advancement of science in all forms of pacific utilisation of nuclear energy. While I was president of the European Nuclear Society, I created the WIN association (Women in Nuclear). This association had two main objectives. First to create a platform to enable women within the nuclear industry to communicate to the external world, highlighting the industry's contribution to the energy mix. Secondly, to motivate women to pursue a professional careers in the nuclear industry who whist still in the minority possess the skills and competencies to succeed in this invigorating environment. I am the former president of NucNet. NucNet was the first international communication agency on nuclear topics. Since it was launched in 1991, NucNet's main goal was to communicate on nuclear topics clearly and concisely, becoming though the first information source for nuclear top executives and public instances.

On Septembre 12th, 2002, I was elected member of the French Academy of Technologies (Read more). In 2004 I was nominated by the French Prime Minister as a CSTI member (a think tank on communication and information technologies). In 2007 I was asked by the French energy regulator (CRE) to launch and chair a high-level working group on liquified natural gas (LNG) in Europe and France. In 2013, I was nominated by the French prime minister member of the Conseil stratégique de la recherche (C.S.R.), a high level committee charged of advising te French government on the research and innovation strategy. From 2008 to 2012 she was member of the European Union Advisory Group on Energy. I am also a member of Le Siècle and Professional Women Network.

I am also a non-Executive Director of Nexans (a leading infrastructure company, since 2004), of Bouygues (an industrial diversified group with construction and telecom & medias, since 2010), of Colas (world leader in road construction, Bouygues subsidiary, since 2011), of Eurotunnel (Channel tunnel infrastructure operator, since 2011), of EDF (the largest European electrical utility, since 2014), and of Ingenico (the global leader in seamless payment, since 2015). From 2006 to April 2011, I was a non-Executive Director of La Poste (French postal service company from 2006 to 2011), and of Ocean Rig (2008), of Lafarge (world wide cement leader), of TGS-Nopec (an oil service company providing seismic data, from 2006 to 2015), and of Crompton Greaves (an electrical equipement company traded on Mumbai stock exchange, from 2013 to 2016).

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