CHAIRMAN

Mr. Garry Vail

Garry Vail is chairman of the boards of directors of the Quebec Photonic Network and of the Centre de Robotique et de Vision. He is a member of the board of directors of the National Optics Institute. His community service activities include management of Du Moulin Industrial Park and he does entrepreneur mentoring with SAGE. Garry was CEO of Bomem Inc. from it’s founding in September 1973 until he retired in April 2002. During his tenure, Bomem evolved from a startup to annual sales of 50 million dollars. He piloted the company through an Initial Public Offering on the Montreal Stock Exchange (October 1987) and a friendly takeover (June 1991). In addition to his role as President of Bomem, Garry was Group Vice President at Elsag Bailey Process Automation (a NYSE listed company) from 1996 to 1999.  Prior to forming Bomem, Garry worked at the Defense Research Board of Canada. Garry holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Alberta at Edmonton (1970).

VICE-PRESIDENT -

Mr. Pierre Galarneau

Vice-president of the INO

Dr. Pierre Galarneau is currently Vice‑President and Chief Technology Officer of INO (National Optics Institute) (www.ino.ca ). Dr. Galarneau is a Board of Director’s member of the following :  Canadian Institute for Photonic Innovations (CIPI), Réseau photonique du Québec (RPQ) and Canadian Photonics Consortium (CPC).  He is also member of various scientific evaluation committees such as the IMSI of Sherbrooke University, COPL of Laval University and National Defence Research Laboratories.  His record counts some 70 scientific publications, 80 presentations in scientific conferences and 7 patents. Over the last 15 years, INO has built an enviable reputation in Canada and abroad with its technological breakthroughs and innovative applications integrating optics and photonics. The accomplishments of INO’s scientific team have led to thousands of published articles, scientific presentations and inventions, including 150 patent applications, 63 of which have already been granted. In addition, INO has been and is currently involved in 23 cooperative programs with the national and international scientific communities.

VICE-PRESIDENT AND

TREASURER -

Mr. HERVÉ PILON

Director Genral of the André Laurendeau College

Since 2005, Mr. Pilon has been Director General of André-Laurendeau College (www.claurendeau.qc.ca) . Prior to that, he was the institution’s Director of Studies. He holds an M.A. in public administration and has a background in political science with a specialization in international relations. He began his career as a municipal counsellor for the City of Montréal. He was subsequently CEO of the Eastern Development Corporation; Director of Adult and Business Services at De Maisonneuve College; Senior Associate for the Groupe DBSF; and President and founder of the firm Stratégies-RH.

In conjunction with his current responsibilities, Mr. Pilon is President of the Montréal International Logistics Institute, President of OPTECH-Montréal, President of SRIC (college computer network organization), Vice President of the Metropolitan Montréal College Alliance, Vice President of the Montréal Inter-level educational issue table, and representative of Montréal colleges at the Metropolitan Labour Roundtable and the CRPMT (Regional Council of Labour Market Partners).

ADMINISTRATOR -

Mr. Gilles Gagnon

Mr. Gagnon, Senior Partner of Digiplan TEC Inc. (www.digiplantec.com), specialises in strategic planning for small & large high-tech companies.  His work includes the development of several market driven partnership for companies involved in information technologies, including telecommunication, intelligent transportation systems, software, microelectronic and photonic.   He holds an electrical engineering degree from Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal and numerous executive management courses at McGill Management School.

ADMINISTRATOR -

M. Hassan Kassi

President, Chief Operating Officer, ITF Labs
Chief Operating Officer, Avensys Inc.

Dr. Kassi received his Ph. D. in Biophysics from Université du Québec à Trois Rivières in 1996 where he also obtained his M. Sc. In 1993, he founded Scientech R&D, which was concentrated on turnkey solutions for customers in various industry segments. In 2000, as president of Scientech R&D, he obtained $2M in financing to develop a line of multi-parameters monitoring products using the BACnet standard. In 2002, Mr. Kassi sold Scientech R&D to Avensys Inc. (www.avensys.com) and became Vice-President of Research & Development. In this new role, Mr. Kassi built a solid R&D team and strong partnerships with various Canadian universities to develop leading edge optical technologies. Dr. Kassi is currently President, Chief Operating Officer of ITF Labs as well as Chief Operating Officer of Avensys Inc.

ADMINISTRATOR -

Mr. Jacques Routhier

VP Business development

Averna Technologies

Jacques Routhier is a seasoned sales and business development executive who has served in a variety of leadership positions with high-tech companies. He is currently Vice President of Business Development at Averna Technologies (www.averna.com). Headquartered in Montréal, Averna is a global leader in providing test and quality solutions for communications and electronics device makers, helping their high tech customers get their to products to market faster and meet quality objectives.

 Prior to joining Averna, Jacques held Global Account Management and Sales responsibilities with Corning Cable Systems (end-to-end fiber optic and copper products for telecom networks) and started his career at Nortel Networks in manufacturing engineering and operations management. 

Jacques graduated from École Polytechnique de Montréal and obtained his bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering. He attended graduate school at École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Montréal.where he completed an MBA.

ADMINISTRATOR -

Mr. Jean Deslauriers

Director – Microcirctuis

Esterline CMC Electronics

Dr. Jean Deslauriers received his B.Sc. in Physics from Université de Montréal and his Ph.D. in Physics from McGill University.  He is currently managing the Microcircuits group at CMC Electronics (www.cmcelectronics.ca ) in Montreal responsible for the design and manufacturing of hybrid and optelectronic products for commercial and military applications.  Prior to joining CMC, Dr. Deslauriers was Vice-President Products and Applications for SolVision (machine vision and optical metrology products), Director of Technology at Viasystems, formely known as Circo Craft (printed circuit manufacturing and electronic assembly), Director of Product Applications at Noranda (specialty semiconductor materials), Director of R&D and Plant Manager at Mitel Semiconductor (silicon integrated circuits manufacturing) and Member of Technical Staff at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey USA (VLSI research and fabrication).  Dr. Deslauriers served in the past on the scientific commission and board of directors of INRS. 

ADMINISTRATOR -

Mr. Robert Corriveau

President and CEO of the CIPI

Robert Corriveau, the President and CEO of the Canadian Institute for Photonic Innovations (CIPI) (www.cipi.ulaval.ca ) since 2005 is well-known to the Canadian photonics community. 

Before joining CIPI, Mr. Corriveau was Vice-President, Marketing and Business Development at PhasOptx, a new company specializing in fibre-optic connectivity.

Between 1995 and 2004, in his capacity as Senior Vice-President, he oversaw technology and business development at INO, a leading Canadian centre of expertise in applied optics and photonics.

Prior to that, Mr. Corriveau worked at the Defence Research Establishment Valcartier and the National Defence Headquarters where, from 1974 to 1995, he held positions of increasing responsibility as researcher and corporate manager, in addition to one-year postings at the US Night Vision Laboratory in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, in 1977 and at the US Air Force Space Division in El Secundo, California, in 1983.

Mr Corriveau holds degrees in physics from UQTR in Trois-Rivières, and in geopolitics from the National Defence College in Kingston.

ADMINISTRATOR -

Mr. Sébastien Blais-Ouellette

President of the Photon etc.

An Astrophysicist by training, Sébastien Blais-Ouellette is the President and Founder of Photon etc (www.photonetc.com). While working in the Astronomy Department of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), he perfected a technology that uses volume Bragg gratings to combine images and spectra of a scene. “At Caltech I was working on the next generation of optical telescopes where you need state-of-the-art instruments. It became obvious that there were so many more fields where the same technology could have a strong impact.” 

Advised by experts in corporate development and high technology management, Sébastien Blais-Ouellette ensures Photon etc.'s sustenance  and growth. 

After obtaining a Master's degree in Montreal and Geneva, and his Ph.D at the Université de Montréal and the Université d'Aix-Marseille in France, he worked as a researcher at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology.

Sébastien Blais-Ouellette received the best France-Québec Thesis Award (all fields) in 2000.

ADMINISTRATOR -

Mr. Stéphane Chabot

Product Line Management Director - Optical Business
Unit

EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering Inc.

Stéphane Chabot is currently Product Line Management Director of EXFO’s (www.exfo.com) Optical Business Unit, a position which he has held since 2006. In this role, Mr. Chabot’s main responsibility consists of leading a team of product managers and specialists to ensure the proper technological and strategic direction of EXFO’s optical products, according to current and future market needs.

Mr. Chabot first joined EXFO as Product Line Manager in 1998 and was then promoted to Business Unit Manager—Network Service Provider Market in 2001.

Prior to his employment at EXFO, Mr. Chabot was a Telecommunications Officer at the Canadian Armed Forces from 1992 to 1998.

Stéphane Chabot holds a bachelor’s degree in Space Science from The Royal Military College of Canada and an MBA from Laval University.

ADMINISTRATOR -

Mr. VUK BARTULOVIC

President of the

Novacam Technologies

Vuk Bartulovic, President of Novacam Technologies (www.novacam.com), has a diploma in Electrical Engineering from Zagreb University (Croatia). Prior to founding Novacam in 1997, Mr. Bartulovic was the Director of Engineering at Park Medical Systems Inc., a Montreal-based company that designed and manufactured gamma cameras and SPECT systems for Nuclear Medicine. Prior to Park Medical he co-founded Modular Vision System Inc. (MVSI), a high tech company that went public successfully. MVSI designed and manufactured laser range sensors. He is a co-author of two US patents.

SECRETARY -

Ms. Isabelle Girard

Patent Agent of the ROBIC

Patent Agent of the ROBIC (www.robic.com )