Professors Victoria Kaspi from McGill University and Gilbert Laporte from HEC Montréal are the winners of the 2017 Prix d’excellence of the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT). The award was presented by Maryse Lassonde, scientific director of the FRQNT, during the FRQNT Journée de la recherche held at École de technologie supérieure.
Renowned international astrophysicist Victoria Kaspi is a leading expert on neutron stars. Her innovative work over the past years with her team at McGill University has helped to unravel the mysteries of pulsars, magnetars and, more recently, fast radio bursts, a phenomenon whose physical origins are still unknown. The author of more than 270 scientific papers, Professor Kaspi is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and was awarded the prestigious Gerhard-Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering in 2016.
Gilbert Laporte holds the Canada Research Chair in Distribution Management. His theoretical, algorithmic and applied research has led to solutions to complex transportation problems in such areas as vehicle routing optimization, humanitarian logistics, the deployment of ambulance fleets, designing work schedules and defining electoral boundaries. Professor Laporte has published more than 500 scientific papers, several of which have won international awards, and has contributed to the training of dozens of postdoctoral fellows and doctoral and master’s students from around the world.
Quote from Maryse Lassonde, scientific director of the Fonds recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies
“I am delighted to see the Prix d’excellence FRQNT awarded ex aequo to two remarkable researchers with successful scientific careers in the fields of astrophysics and operational research, two flagship areas for the FRQNT.”
About the Prix d’excellence FRQNT
The Prix d’excellence FRQNT, in the amount of $10,000, recognizes the outstanding contributions of university or college researchers in the areas of natural sciences, mathematics and engineering, their international reputation and the benefits of their research for Québec.
About the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies
The mission of the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies is to provide financial support and promote academic and collegiate research, training of highly qualified personnel and dissemination of knowledge in the areas of natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. The goal is to thus contribute to the scientific development, innovation, economic prosperity and sustainable development of Québec.
