Management

Alain-Jacques Simard, President & Chief Executive Officer
Martin Guy, Vice-President Product Management and Technology
Ghislain Lafrance, Vice-President Defense & Aerospace
Richard Kirouac, Chief Finance Officer
Pierre Bernard, Vice-President Engineering
Daniel Coulombe, Vice-President Operations

Alain-Jacques Simard, Chief Executive Officer
From 1991 to 1994, Mr. Simard worked as a production engineer for MIL Davie shipyard, where he was responsible for the activation of communication, navigational, and weapon systems on Canadian Navy frigates. He then joined Société des Casinos in 1994, where he was in charge of project management on a number of large projects around the world involving new or expanded casino facilities. In 1991, Mr. Simard received a B.Eng. degree in electrical engineering from Laval University in Quebec City.

Martin Guy, Vice-President Product Management and Technology
In 1996, he joined INO as project manager in the Photonics Group, where he conducted research and development activities related to passive components, optical amplifiers, and instrumentation for WDM communication systems. In 1998, he became head of technology for the Optical Communications team at INO. Dr. Guy holds B.Eng., M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Laval University in Quebec City. He has worked in the fiber optic field for more than 10 years, has over 40 publications in international journals, and holds 4 patents.

Ghislain Lafrance, Vice-President Defense & Aerospace
From 1993 to 1996, he worked as hardware project engineer at EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering, a leading manufacturer of fiber optic test equipment. He then joined INO in 1996 as project manager for major military contracts. In 1999, he was appointed head of technology for laser diode illuminators and active imaging systems. Mr. Lafrance received a B.Eng. in 1991 and a M.Sc. Degree in electrical engineering (photonics) in 1993, both from Laval University in Quebec City.

Richard Kirouac, Chief Finance Officer
Mr. Kirouac obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce (accounting) in 1979 at Laval University and received his license in accounting the same year. He was accepted to the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1981. Mr. Kirouac was a senior partner at Dallaire Forest Kirouac, a chartered accountant and business consultant firm with over 40 employees in Québec City. He acted as director of the Department of Management Counsultants. He was involved in numerous mandates in evaluation, private and public financing, sales and amalgamation, business development, corporative restructuring and business grants. Mr. Kirouac joined TeraXion in October 2000 as Chief Financial Officer. His responsibilities consist in supervising financial operations of the Company, validating and analyzing financial reports, and elaborating financing strategies for the rapid growth of TeraXion. He is an active member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, Results Accountants-Network (RAN) and DFK International.

Pierre Bernard, Vice-President Engineering
Mr. Bernard holds a B.Sc. in Physics from University of Ottawa and a Ph.D. degree from Laval University. After graduation, he worked for Hydro-Québec research center in Varennes and then joined the Physics department at University of Ottawa where he stayed for 5 years prior to joining the newly created National Optics Institute in Québec city. His career at NOI lasted 10 years and touched a wide range of subjects ranging from fiber sensors and lasers to industrial optics and instruments. He then joined LightPath technologies in Albuquerque New-Mexico as Director of R&D in 1999 before being named VP of Product & Technology Development. He finally joined TeraXion in 2002 where he has been involved with process & product development, as well as the improvement of product reliability. He is now Vice-President of Engineering.

Daniel Coulombe, Vice-President Operations
Mr Coulombe is Vice-Président of Opérations. After graduation, he worked for Rematech-Bremo’s engineering department as Production Engineer. He then joined American Biltrite and was in charge of the continuous improvement process where he instigated several successful cost reduction projects. In 2000, he joined the newly created TeraXion and was shortly thereafter named Director of Production and contributed to transform the start-up into a world-class and profitable manufacturing company. Mr. Coulombe received a B. Eng. degree in mechanical engineering from Laval University in 1990. He has over 20 years of experience in manufacturing. In 2009, he was appointed V.P. of Operations.

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