Synopsis

January 29th 1817 – almost 200 hundred years ago, in the middle of the industrial revolution, a young Englishman was establishing his steel factory headquarters near Liège in order to build steam engines. He was 27 years old. As a great industrialist, John Cockerill will demonstrate a remarkable avant-garde mind: he builds from beginning to end the first European blast furnace and starts manufacturing the first tank engines. He places many investments abroad, to the extent that bankers are concerned. AŌer his (prematured) death in 1840, Cockerill factories will magnificently thrive well beyond Europe. Today, aŌer many tribulations, Liege steel industry has seen its blast furnaces go down one aŌer the other. However, it is coming back as a center for industrial innovation by taking upnew technological challenges in numerous fields, particularly in the solar heating boilers department.
« Cockerill Maintenance et Ingénierie » (CMI) which was created in 2002 based on a former Cockerill division, has now 5000 associates from around the world and positions itself as the number one leader in its field. The film « John Cockerill, the whole story », will raise awareness among the audience to past issues – and present – regarding industrial innovation thanks to John Cockerill’s fascinating journey.