Quentin Debuisschert replaces Jean Sentenac at the head of Axens
After managing the Axens Group for 22 years, Jean Sentenac handed over to Quentin Debuisschert (photo) in June 2024. The handover took place after a transition period that allowed them to ensure seamless continuity in the strategy and development of Axens, a worldwide leading energy player headquartered in France and present on all continents. Quentin Debuisschert had been managing Eurecat since 2017, also having spent nearly 20 years at Axens. His return and passing of the torch marks a new milestone in the life of this French tech ISE.
Jean Sentenac had been managing the Axens Group since 2002, shortly after this subsidiary of IFP Energies Nouvelles was created in 2001. Since then, he has worked to position Axens as a leading provider to hydrocarbon manufacturers. Prior to leading Axens, Jean Sentenac was Deputy Executive Director of the industrial division of IFP Energies Nouvelles. The Ecole Polytechnique graduate, who also has an IFP School dégrée in Engineering, began his career in engineering and construction at Air Liquide in Italy and Spain, before joining the Rhône-Poulenc chemical company, where he worked for ten years.
Quentin Debuisschert officially took up his new role as CEO of Axens in June 2024 after a transition period of several months. Quentin Debuisschert previously managed Eurecat, a subsidiary of Axens and Albemarle specialising in the circular economy and pre-treatment of chemical catalysts. His appointment as the head of Axens marks his return to the company he is perfectly familiar with, having joined it in 2001 and held various positions as technical manager of licensed technologies, head of Product Lines, then Sales and Marketing Director of the company’s catalysts and adsorbents until 2017, before joining Eurecat. Having graduated from INP Ensiacet in Toulouse, the process engineer started his career in 1990 at Pechiney, then joined IFP Energies Nouvelles, mainly in R&D and engineering/project/startup assignments.
The Axens Group offers a complete range of solutions for the conversion of oil and biomass into cleaner fuels, the production and purification of major petrochemical intermediates, the chemical recycling of plastics, natural gas treatment and conversion options, water treatment and carbon capture. Their offer includes technologies, equipment, furnaces, modular units, catalysts, adsorbents and related services.
Photo: Quentin Debuisschert (source: David Morganti)
