André Borschberg

About André Borschberg

André Borschberg, a graduate engineer in mechanics and thermodynamics from the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, and holder of a Master’s in Management Science from the Sloan School, MIT Boston, has a solid background in creating and managing companies. After 5 years as a McKinsey business consultant, he developed and directed numerous technological projects, both as investor and entrepreneur.

Fascinated by aviation from his earliest youth, he learned to fly with the Swiss air force. Today he holds an assortment of professional aeroplane and helicopter pilot’s licences and also does aerobatics in his spare time. Heading the Solar Impulse project together with Bertrand Piccard, André Borschberg brings the essential skills of the entrepreneur who helps convert vision into reality. It was he who assembled the technical team and led the construction of the first prototype. He was at the controls of HB-SIA for the night flight of 7 July 2010 and during the longest solar-powered flight.

He later achieved the world distance record in solar flight during the flight from Payerne to Madrid, in 2012, a record that he later broke during the Across America flight from Phoenix to Dallas in 2013. These three historic flights were awarded 8 FAI world records.