1st Paris Hardware Meetup @ Kickmaker | Making it in Europe
The Hardware Meetup community is excited to kickoff Paris's first meetup this June!
Hardware Meetups happen in over 30 cities around the world, helping bring together founders, engineers, and other hardware professionals to networks, share insights, and collaborate with one another.
Agenda
6:30-7:00 - Arrival, mingle, grab refreshments
7:00-7:10 - Welcome and introduction
7:10-7:30 - Guest speaker #1 with audience Q+A
7:30-7:50 - Guest speaker #2 with audience Q+A
7:50-8:10 - Guest speaker #3 with audience Q+A
8:10-8:30p - Community open mic
Anyone will have the chance for a 2min pitch to demo a prototype or talk about what they are working on.
8:30-9:30p - Mix + mingle
Speakers
Antoine Messager is a engineering professional with over a decade of experience in product design, development, and industrialization. He currently serves as a Program Manager at Kickmaker, a global engineering firm specializing in high-tech product development. In this role, Antoine leads cross-functional teams to bring concepts from prototype to mass production, ensuring vision and efficiency at every stage. His expertise spans various sectors, including micro-mobility, robotics, consumer electronics, and IoT. Antoine is known for combining a maker mindset with industrial rigor, delivering sustainable and innovative solutions. Antoine holds a Master of Science degree from University of COmpiègne Paris and has a strong background in applied Manufacturing.
Mehdi Adjaoue is an engineer and entrepreneur with deep expertise in machine learning, computer vision, robotics, and AI. He co-founded and serves as CEO of EyePick, leading its development of autonomous, vision-guided robotics solutions for logistics, manufacturing, retail, and food industries, and previously held roles such as Lead Software Engineer at SkillCorner and Robotics Consultant at FM Logistic, Mudam, and ZProd. Educated at CPGE Condorcet and the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Nancy, he began his career as a machine learning teaching assistant at École Polytechnique before progressing into R&D engineering and product leadership.
Thunder Zhang, CEO and Co-Founder of NexPCB, is a serial entrepreneur spanning the US and China. He co-founded startup community cafés and maker spaces as well while pursuing a Master’s in Embedded Systems from Sweden and an EMBA from CEBIS. With a deep commitment to technological progress, he has personally invested in 15 startups, including MedTech ventures in wearable technology and brain-computer interfaces (BCI). Through the Next Stage Foundation (NSF), Thunder focuses on accelerating IoT innovation, believing in technology’s power to create a better world.
Thank you to our partners
NexPCB is dedicated to accelerating IoT innovations into scalable global businesses. As a long-term product realization partner, they collaborate with ambitious teams across Europe—particularly in MedTech & Wearables, Green Energy, Robotics & AI Hardware, and Mobility. With over 20 years of experience, they offer end-to-end manufacturing solutions, including DFX, tooling, technology supply chain management, and global logistics, to deliver consistent, high-quality hardware products at competitive prices.
Kickmaker a vibrant community of multidisciplinary talents united by a shared passion for high-tech product development and industrialization. Founded in 2016 and with a presence in France, China, and the United States, their team of over 300 dedicated "Kickers" supports partners ranging from startups to SMEs and large corporations, guiding them from prototyping to mass production.
informal is a freelance collective for the most talented independent professionals in the hardware ecosystem. With expertise in a diverse range of industries - from consumer electronics to automotive, climate tech to medical devices - informal members work with clients at every stage to design, manufacture, and scale top-quality physical products. Whether you're looking for a single contractor, a full-time employee, or an entire team to work on everything from product development to go-to-market strategy, the informal collective has the perfect people for the job.