MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER: BERTRAND PICCARD

Bertrand Piccard was born on March 1st 1958 in Switzerland into a family of explorers and scientists. He seemed to be predestined to perpetuate one of the greatest family adventures of the 20th century. This scientist-adventurer, psychiatrist and aeronaut combines science and adventure to explore the human soul.

After a classical education, he studied medicine, became a senior consultant in a psychiatric hospital, and specialised

jointly in psychiatry and psychotherapy for adults and children. His doctoral thesis, entitled "La Pédagogie de l'Epreuve", was awarded a prize by the Faculty of Medicine at Lausanne in 1996. An expert in hypnotherapy, he is lecturer and supervisor for the Swiss Medical Hypnosis Society.

Always interested in the study of human behaviour in extreme situations, he was one of the pioneers of hang gliding and microlight flying in the 1970s and became European champion in hang-glider aerobatics in 1985.

After qualifying as a balloon pilot, he won, with Wim Verstraeten, the first transatlantic balloon race (Chrysler Challenge, 1992) and then initiated the "Breitling Orbiter" project. Captain of the three attempts, he succeeded with the Englishman, Brian Jones, the first (and as of today the only) non-stop round-the-world balloon flight. Together achieving the longest flight in terms of both duration and distance in the history of aviation: 45,755 kilometres in 19 days, 21 hours and 47 minutes (capturing a total of 7 world records)

After this circumnavigation, considered the last great adventure of the 20th century, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones were decorated with the the Olympic Order and the gold medal of the French Ministry of Youth and Sport and received among others the highest distinctions of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the National Geographic Society, the Explorer's Club, and numerous aeronautical , scientific and sporting associations in Europe and the United States of America.

Honorary Doctor of Science, Bertrand Piccard also received the Grand Prix of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques de l'Institut de France and was named as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund.

Together with his co-pilot and their sponsor, Breitling, he created the Winds of Hope humanitarian foundation destined to use the financial and media impact of the round-the-world flight to fight forgotten and neglected causes on our earth. The first action, implemented in conjunction with the WHO, concerns the fight against Noma, a little known illness, which hideously disfigures the faces of thousands of children in very poor countries.

His two books "Une Trace dans le ciel", and "The Greatest Adventure" (written with Brian Jones, translated into 9 languages, best seller in France (Robert Laffont) and Germany (Piper Verlag) have contributed to Bertrand becoming know as "Le Savanturier", someone who is endeavouring to combine the scientific background inherited from his family with his desire to explore the great adventure of human life.

In this context he has become a highly sought-after speaker both with the general public and the business world. He deals with his ballooning experience from the point of view of motivation and adventurous spirit, the psychology of communication and team working, management of stress and the unknown. Entitled "Adventure, a state of mind: a metaphor for the round-the-world balloon flight", Bertrand Piccard explains, amongst other things, how balloon flight can be seen as a symbol of a new relationship between human beings, technology and nature.

In this vision, the balloon is a captive of the winds that propel it just as man is a prisoner of his certitudes, his problems or his destiny. But, in the same way that a balloon can change altitude to find currents which will change its direction, the human being can rise up psychologically or spiritually to reassume responsibility for the direction of his life.

Since 1992 he has made several hundred appearances, both public and private, in the United States, Asia and Europe.