Luc Laperrière | Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières | Canada
Luc Laperrière is a full time professor in the mechanical engineering department of Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières since 1991. He received both his master's and Ph.D. degrees from McMaster University, Canada, in 1990 and 1992, respectively. He was also appointed Chair of his department from 2010 to 2013. During a sabbatical in 1999 he developed new and original continuous-discrete simulation software. This was done in collaboration with a commercial software distributor. The developed modules are now part of the basic version of this software that is distributed worldwide. In 2005 he was leading a multidisciplinary engineering team responsible for the design and implementation of the Distributed Control System (DCS) of a fully operational pulp and paper mill with a complete paper machine in a new 11 000 m2 building on campus, representing a total investment of 80M$ Cdn, 10% of which came directly from industry. This DCS manages over 3000 I/Os and 500 control loops and its flexibility is still unique worldwide. In 2010 he became the founding Director of the Laboratory of Mechanics and Eco-Materials (LMEM). He helped develop a new type of eco-composite material from a mix of long and short natural fibers that decreases the inherent variability of the final part properties. He has filed 2 patents, has published close to 100 papers in leading scientific journals and international refereed conferences, and has supervised over 40 masters and Ph.D. students.