At Phononic Vibes, We Re-Invent Silence with MetaMaterials

Céline Estienny head of responsible marketing & communication at Phononic Vibes tells us about performance and noise control.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times? 

Céline Estienny: I’m fine, thank you. Adapting to this situation is an everyday life challenge and working from remote can change the way of interacting with people but we can evolve and adapt to new kinds and modalities of a working environment and the best will come out of it. 

Tell us about you, your career, and how you joined Phononic Vibes.

Céline Estienny: At Phononic Vibes, I’m Responsible for Marketing & Communication and more particularly I deal with building Phononic Vibes’ image both internally and externally that fits and represents the activities of the company and more precisely our vision and ambition of reinventing Silence with a new innovative technology called MetaMaterials. 

I hold an MSc in Business Management at EDHEC Business School in France ranked as the 16th best Business school worldwide (Financial Times) and at Politecnico di Milano in Italy. Before joining Phononic Vibes, I had previous experience in Corporate Communication at Ernst & Young in France and as an Analyst in an Investment Fund in France at Allinvest, 1st Fund in terms of IPO on Euronext. 

While I was finishing my studies, I joined Phononic Vibes as an Operations intern. Then I went back to France for my first job experience and joined back Phononic Vibes later, more than one year ago. 

How does Phononic Vibes innovate? 

Céline Estienny: Phononic Vibes is an Italian Deeptech startup bringing to the market innovative solutions to reduce noise and vibration based on metamaterials, i.e., advanced materials whose acoustic and vibrations control performances are defined by the shape and topology of the unit cell and therefore are independent of the raw material itself. This allows the use of recycled materials for instance. 

In order to constantly innovate in our market segments of focus (Infrastructure, Building, Appliances & Automotive), we rely on four major aspects: 

1. The skills and background of our team, composed of 50% of PhDs. From Management, to design or technical competencies, we build every day the “secret recipe” to continuously grow and innovate. 
2. The use of advanced technologies such as computing tools and advanced modeling software allows us to create and design solutions answering clients ‘needs in an evolving context. 
3. The support of an ecosystem composed of high-level partners and suppliers on which we can rely to build the value chain of our products. 
4. The interest and collaboration of an ecosystem of Italian and global players open to innovation by purchasing new products or by integrating new technologies in their commercial offer.

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business and how are you coping?

Céline Estienny: We experienced some delays in supplier operations due to the Home Office shift and necessary adjustments. Nevertheless, we completed significant advancements in some of our activity segments. With resilience, we continuously improve our core technology and solutions to meet the market’s evolving and shifting demand to propose a Unique Value Proposition to our clients. 

Did you have to make difficult choices and what are the lessons learned?

Céline Estienny: We reduced expenses by doing an in-depth analysis of cost sources and by optimizing expenditures. For a DeepTech startup, Research & Development expenses are the basis of the technology and Intellectual Property so it was important to balance cost optimization. Overhead costs have also been optimized and rationalized. 

How do you manage stress and anxiety in this time of health emergency and how do you project yourself and your company into the future? 

Céline Estienny: Our motto in this period is resilience, innovation, and passion. 

• Resilience because it is the only way for a startup to grow and scale in an uncertain period like this one. 
• Innovation because it is the core of our reality. 
• Passion because thanks to the team’s passion and ability to continuously innovate and solve problems, we are goal-oriented, no matter what.  

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Céline Estienny: Phononic Vibes has two types of competitors: 

1. Traditional competitors with traditional solutions that rely on components such as foam, fiberglass, etc. These products have the limit of depending on the raw material used. Volumes therefore cannot be optimized, the solutions not being engineered properly. Phononic Vibes with its technology based on metamaterials allows high acoustic performance thanks to the shape and design of the element and this allows us to give great freedom in the choice of materials (i,e. use of recycled materials) with high competitiveness in price.
2. Innovative competitors based on similar technology but still at a Research and Academic level. Phononic Vibes, already having strong experience on the market thanks to the partnership with industrial and Corporate partners already positions itself as a pioneer.  

Your website?

 http://phononicvibes.com/