Lucie Ries is Co-Founder and CEO at Ilion Water Technologies, a deep tech startup pioneering pressure-free desalination using nanofluidic technology. Based in Paris, she holds a PhD and is transforming water treatment through her innovative VIRO (Voltage Induced Reverse Osmosis) system.

Lucie studied at École normale supérieure and holds a PhD in materials science, specializing in water treatment membranes and nanofluidics. She worked as a Research & Valorization Engineer at ENS from 2020 to 2024, conducting breakthrough research on water purification.

Lucie is a 2022 L'Oréal-UNESCO Young Talent Award recipient for Women in Science and won first place at Falling Walls Lab Paris 2023 for her water purification innovation. She is passionate about promoting diversity in science and bridging academic research to commercial solutions.

Ilion Water Technologies won the Pollutec Innovation Challenge 2024 and is a finalist for the European Desalination Society's Miriam Balaban competition and the international XPRIZE desalination competition. The company won the i-Lab innovation competition from BPIFrance as part of France 2030.

Ilion's patented technology uses only a few volts of electricity instead of high-pressure systems up to 60 bar, dramatically reducing installation costs and energy consumption. The anti-fouling system decreases chemical usage while enabling simpler, greener desalination operations for drinking and industrial water applications.