2024 Ambassadors' Gala : The AmbassadorsLet's celebrate together a promising future

My lab is exploring various facets of miniaturization and integration in biology and medicine, which includes the conception, engineering and utilization of novel micro and nanotechnologies for manipulating, stimulating and studying oligonucleotides, proteins, cells, and tissues.

The research foci comprise the development of novel scalable antibody microarrays for protein profiling and their use for biomarker discovery and early diagnosis of disease such as cancer; self-powered lab-on-a-chip for diagnostics at the point-of-care and low-cost thread-based devices for use in global health applications; microfluidic probes for brain slice perfusion and single cell manipulation; and nanogradients for studying neuronal cell navigation. The research in my lab is highly collaborative, and the lab is highly interdisciplinary with undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and staff from all areas of Science and Engineering. 

Mr. Francis is an Associate Professor of Planning and Management Information Systems in ticipates in conferences and is a regular guest speaker.


In addition, he has 30 years’ experience in multi-disciplinary teams, during which time he has established strategies and implemented integrated project management systems, planned and executed schedules, carried out cost control and project tracking, and performed risk and value analyses. 

During his career, Mr. Francis has worked for government departments, consulting firms and contractors. He has managed construction projects, prepared tender documents, analyzed bids, acted as bidder, managed contracts and audited the various stages of project completion, while ensuring that deviations were identified and the necessary corrective and preventive measures implemented. He was involved in estimating several projects, carrying out opportunity and feasibility studies, as well as financial and economic analyses.the Department of Construction Engineering at the École de Technologie Supérieure, Université du Québec (since 2009).

He holds a B.Sc.A in civil engineering (1982), a master’s degree in project management (1992) and a doctorate (2004) in planning and management information systems. 

His areas of research expertise focus on the visualization, optimization and graphical modeling of project planning. For over 25 years, he has devoted his work primarily to the study, analysis, development and implementation of a spatiotemporal chronographic modeling approach for the planning of construction operations. In these fields, Mr. Francis has developed several computer applications, is the author of several publications, participates in conferences and is a regular guest speaker.


In addition, he has 30 years’ experience in multi-disciplinary teams, during which time he has established strategies and implemented integrated project management systems, planned and executed schedules, carried out cost control and project tracking, and performed risk and value analyses. 

During his career, Mr. Francis has worked for government departments, consulting firms and contractors. He has managed construction projects, prepared tender documents, analyzed bids, acted as bidder, managed contracts and audited the various stages of project completion, while ensuring that deviations were identified and the necessary corrective and preventive measures implemented. He was involved in estimating several projects, carrying out opportunity and feasibility studies, as well as financial and economic analyses.

Dominic Frigon is an Associate Professor of environmental engineering in the Civil Engineering Dept. at McGill University (Montreal, Canada). He holds BSc and MSc degrees in Microbiology from McGill (Montréal) and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign). microbial ecology of wastewater systems using metagenomics and mathematical modeling. His work has applications in wastewater-based epidemiology, biological water resource recovery, the control of antimicrobial resistance dispersal, and biosolids safety.

Dr. Elena Bennett is a Professor at McGill and CRC in Sustainability Science. She received her BA in Biology and Environmental Studies from Oberlin College in Ohio in 1994, earned her MSc in Land Resources in 1999 (U. Wisconsin) and her PhD in Limnology and Marine Sciences in 2002 (U. Wisconsin). She is co-chair of the international Programme on Ecosystem Change and Society and Founding Director of ResNet, a pan-Canadian network to improve management of working landsacpes for the provision of multiple ecosystem services. Dr. Bennett was a Leopold Leadership Fellow (2012), and a Trottier Public Policy Professor (2013-2014). At McGill, she has won awards for undergraduate teaching, graduate supervision, and contributions to campus sustainability. In 2012, she was selected to be one of two representatives of the Royal Society of Canada at the Summer Davos meeting of the World Economic Forum held in Tianjin, China. In 2016, she was named one of six NSERC Steacie Fellows. In 2020, she was a Clarivate Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher, indicating a citation rate in the top 1% in her field.

Ms. Diane Seguin is the Head of Biology/DNA, Laboratorie de sciences judiciaires et de medecine legale, Quebec. As a biology specialist with over 25 years’ experience in the field of forensic biology, she has expertise in DNA analysis and new technologies, computer software specific to the forensic field, data analysis and public presentations. Ms. Seguin has management training from the Université du Québec – École nationale d’administration publique. She manages a team of over 90 highly specialized people.

With more than 25 years of experience and projects conducted in Canada, the USA, South-America, Europe and the Middle-East, Eric Blond holds one of the most comprehensive independant expertises in geosynthetics and polymeric construction materials.

With more than 25 years of experience and projects conducted in Canada, the USA, South-America, Europe and the Middle-East, Eric Blond holds one of the most comprehensive independant expertises in geosynthetics and polymeric construction materials.

Eric Blond is a professional Engineer, registered in Quebec and in Alberta. He holds an engineering degree in geotechnical engineering and a master degree with a focus on geosynthetics. Eric has expanded his actions from the geotechnical world to the building industry, as well as to the architectural textile world.

Eric Blond offers Technical Services to the Geosynthetics and Engineered Construction Material Industries. From Engineering Services focused on the application of Innovative Products and Technologies, to forensic investigations and serving as expert witness, Eric has an in-depth knowledge of the usage, limitations and opportunities offered by synthetic materials used in the construction industry, such as:

In civil engineering projects: geotextiles, geomembranes, geosynthetics clay liners, geocells, geogrids, drainage geocomposites and other geosynthetic materials;

In building: dampproofing and waterproofing membranes, drainboards, dimpled sheets, roofing membranes, air barriers, vapor barriers and other sheet- or spray-applied products.

Karim Zaghib is a world-renowned scientist specializing in electrochemistry, rechargeable batteries (lithium-ion and solid-state), carbon, energy transition and transport electrification. His benchmark scientific publications in these fields have influenced generations of researchers. He is regularly invited to participate in international conferences as an expert speaker to address issues and share his vision concerning energy storage and new battery technologies. Since 2022, he has been Professor of Chemical and Materials Engineering at Concordia University and Director of the Collaborative Centers on Energy and its Transition, following a 28-year career at Hydro-Québec.

As General Manager of materials development research for lithium-ion batteries at Hydro-Québec, he helped make the company the first in the world to use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) in cathodes, and to develop natural graphite and nanotitanate anodes. These technologies are used by Tesla, Ford, Mercedes, BMW, CAT and BYD, among others. Dr. Zaghib pioneered the first dual-electrode photobattery and high MWh energy storage based on LFP/graphite, in a joint venture with Sony and Hydro-Québec. Dr. Zaghib has also made significant contributions to electrothermics, ionic liquids and molten salts. The team’s latest advances, made in collaboration with universities, research centers and companies, pave the way for the next generation of electric vehicle batteries and energy storage solutions, a field in which Quebec and Canada are well placed to play a leading role.

He is co-author of 450 publications, 970 patents and 62 licenses. His H-index is 87 with 25,896 citations.

My research focuses on understanding how pathogens can evade the host immune response by manipulating the biochemical cascades involved in the regulation of phagocyte microbicidal functions. My pathogens of interest are protozoan parasites causing malaria, which causes up to two millions deaths annually, and leishmaniasis, which affects more than 250 million individuals worldwide. I have found that leishmania can tame the innate inflammatory response of the host, using its surface protease that can also be contained in microvesicules rapidly released within the host environment. For Malaria, my research revealed that a crystalline metabolic waste (HZ) of the parasite was responsible for a great number of inflammation-related pathologies encountered during this important infection. My lab’s findings may lead to the development of new therapies against those infectious agents, which could be applied to others such as tuberculosis. They might also lead to the development of new diagnostic tools based on exo-biomarkers, and potentially to vaccine development.

My research focuses on: bringing cutting edge science to diagnose infectious diseases, studying host-parasite interactions, screening drugs to be used as therapies for infectious diseases, developing vaccines to prevent parasitic diseases, and applying proteomic technology to discover biomarkers for infectious diseases. Increased awareness of parasitic infections has led to newly recognized parasites, emerging pathogens, and bioterrorism considerations. Therefore, the fields of diagnostic medical parasitology treatment and vaccines are undergoing dramatic change.

André J. Rancourt has over 29 years of experience in tunnels, hydroelectric projects, geotechnics, mining, mineral exploration, building foundations and environment.

Mr. Rancourt has realised numerous geological, mining and rock mechanics studies for underground and surface mines and civil projects. Moreover, he has been in charge of the exploration campaign for major mining, civil and hydroelectric projects in Canada, United-States, Africa, Asia and South America.

He has participated in more than 20 boards of experts meetings and has been member in several technical committees. Mr. Rancourt has given lectures for the blasting course at McGill University.

He also has an acute expertise in the following specific tasks:

– Tunnels and rock excavations design
– Mining and geotechnical site investigation
– Blast design, fragmentation and vibration control
– Rock mass consolidation and grouting
– In-situ rock stress measurements
– Finite element modelling

Jean Habimana has over 25 years of experience in a variety of aspects of geotechnical and tunnel engineering for both soft ground and hard rock tunneling. He has worked on design and construction of major projects including tunnels, caverns, shafts, open-cut, cut-and-cover excavations, highways, and bridge foundation. His experience ranges from conceptual design to preparation of engineering final design documents including Geotechnical Baseline Reports, drawings and specifications and providing engineering services during construction. Mr. Habimana has an extensive experience in static and seismic soil-structure interaction analysis and seismic design of tunnels and underground facilities. He is well versed in numerical modeling and the use of the state-of the art computer tools for geotechnical and tunnel design. He notably managed tunnel design and construction projects, and he is skilled in the coordination of different disciplines, the management of client expectations, and completing projects on time and on budget. He has participated and managed major projects under traditional, design-build and design-build finance maintain operate delivery methods under different capacities.

David Widory is an isotope geochemist. Since his PhD (1996-1999), he has studied several isotope systematics (both stable and radiogenic isotopes) trying to bring answers to environmental issues. Mr. Widory takes a multi-isotope approach to his work and specializes in four areas of research: air pollution, water pollution, forensic and CO2 sequestration.

With nearly 20 years experience, Kathy is an engineer and senior executive known for her strong leadership skills and strategic vision. In addition to her role as vice president, she oversees the operations of a major transportation group that is working to improve mobility in the greater Montreal area.

With degrees in chemical engineering and in business administration, Kathy has worked as an engineer in the private sector for over 10 years, at Aéroports de Montréal, IBM and Pyrogenesis. From 2016 to 2022, as president of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec (OIQ), Kathy was noted for her exceptional contribution toward restoring confidence in the profession and for her commitment to diversity and sustainable development in engineering.

A Fellow of both Engineers Canada and the Canadian Academy of Engineering, Kathy has received two honorary doctorates for her commitment and contribution to engineering, from École de technologie supérieure in 2021 and Concordia University in 2023.She serves on the boards of several corporate and charitable organizations, including Nav Canada and Fondaction, and is currently president of Engineers Canada.

Brian Mustard has over 25 years of experience as a tax advisor. Brian also has an extensive network in the tax community including significant government relationships. Prior to joining EY, Brian was Senior Vice-President in Taxation at BCE managing one of the largest tax groups in Canada. ​

Mr. Mustard was formerly the lead lecturer and course coordinator for CPA Canada’s Advanced International Tax Course. He is a frequent speaker on international tax and is the author of a  number of articles and publications.   ​

He also worked within the Tax Policy Branch at the Department of Finance from 2001-2003. ​