Oriane Morriet, PhDFounder & CEOHumaniteq A 2016 graduate of the École normale supérieure de Paris, Oriane Morriet moved to Québec to pursue a PhD at the Université de Montréal, where she works on virtual reality.

In parallel, she works as a freelance techno-cultural journalist. Oriane Morriet has taken part in major events such as MTL Connecte, C2 Montréal and the World Summit AI Americas. She created Humaniteq, a podcast on artificial intelligence combining academic, industrial and artistic knowledge.

She is also a film scriptwriter and theatrical playwright, and notably scripted the virtual reality work Under Water. Since 2020, she has also been project leader in artificial intelligence at the Institut de valorisation des données, where she is responsible for international activities.

Marie-Pierre Ippersiel, PhDPresident & Chief Executive OfficerPRIMA Québec Marie-Pierre Ippersiel has been President and CEO of PRIMA Québec since 2016. Prior to this, she spent over six years working as Vice-President of the the cleantech cluster Écotech Québec.

She has focused for more than 25 years on the dynamics of innovation ecosystems and their players. She participated in the Governor General's Canadian Leadership Conference in 2017 and co-chaired the Net-Zero Advisory Body from 2021 to 2023. She contributes to various committees and sits on the boards of the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS), the Quantum Innovation Zone, DistriQ and the Equilibrum Group.

Marie-Pierre holds a PhD in urban studies from INRS-Urbanisation, Culture et Société, where she studied science/industry relations and technological support for SMEs in College Technology Transfer centres.

Thierry Lafrance, P.ENG.Founder, President and Product ArchitectMëkanicThierry Lafrance is a generalist research engineer with 25 years of experience. In contrast to a largely specialized field, he combines mechanics, electronics, and software to coordinate the work of specialists and turn technical building blocks into robust systems, ready for laboratory use.

In 2013, he founded Mëkanic, a company that designs and manufactures custom equipment for all scientific disciplines. His dual objective is to facilitate access to research grants and to accelerate both the production and dissemination of scientific results.

Romain Georges Martin, PhDR&D Project Manager Hutchinson, Composites Technical Centre (CTeC)
Romain Georges Martin obtained a Master's degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland in 2019, followed by a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) in Montréal in 2024.

After a post-doctorate at Polytechnique Montréal, he joined Hutchinson and the R&D team at the Composites Technical Centre (CTeC) in the summer of 2025 as a project manager. Their expertise focuses on the manufacture and assembly of composite materials, particularly high-performance thermoplastic composites for aerospace applications.

Marie-Josée Potvin, P.ENG., PhDPortfolio Manager, Flight Opportunities and Training
Canadian Space Agency Marie-Josée Potvin holds a bachelor's degree in engineering physics from Polytechnique Montréal, a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Queen's University and a doctorate in mechanical engineering from McGill University.

Her mandate includes managing an operational stratospheric balloon flight base, as well as the Engineer Development Program, which trains early-career engineers joining the Canadian Space Agency, and the Ad Astra program. The latter program is designed to enable Canadian university professors and industrial researchers to become involved in space research by sharing their knowledge with experts from the Canadian Space Agency, and providing them with long-term support. A significant number of students who took part in the Ad Astra program or its precursor, the PEEKbot, have now joined the space industry.

Jason Robert Tavares, P.ENG., PhDProfessor of chemical engineering
Polytechnique Montréal Jason Robert Tavares is a full professor of chemical engineering and director of the Laboratory of Photochemical Surface Engineering Laboratory (LIPS) at Polytechnique Montréal.

With a PhD in Chemical Engineering from McGill University (2010), he specializes in surface modification, plasma and particle dispersion. His research focuses on low-cost surface synthesis and modification using photochemical and solvent-based approaches, and on applying his expertise in surface science to solving problems at the water-food-energy interface.

In addition to his expertise in surface and interface science, Jason Robert also has solid experience in industrial research and development. His multidisciplinary background is evidenced by over 100 publications on surface modification, water recovery, emulsions, materials synthesis and process scaling (and pedagogy), as well as two granted patents and several others pending.