Welcome to my web page. A summary of my education and research interests is presented below. Please do not hesitate to contact me for any additional information.
Education
- Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering, Université de Sherbrooke, Quebec, in 1985
- Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (Robotics), McGill University, Quebec, in 1988
Awards
- Medal of the Governors, Université de Sherbrooke in 1985.
- Gold Medal of the Governor General of Canada, Université de Sherbrooke, for the best academic results in 1985.
- D. W. Ambridge Award from McGill University for the best thesis of the year in Physical Sciences and Engineering in 1988.
- I.W. Smith Award from the Canadian Society of Mechanical Engineering, for creative engineering in 1993.
- Summa award for research achievements from the Faculty of Sciences and Engineering at Laval University in 1997.
- Best video award at the IEEE International Robotics and Automation Conference in 1997.
- Held a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Robotics and Mechatronics from January 2001 to December 2021.
- ASME Mechanisms and Robotics Committee Award in 2008.
- ASME DED Machine Design Award in 2013.
- IFToMM Award of Merit in 2019.
- Fellow of the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers).
- Fellow of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
- Officer of the Order of Canada.
Academic Career
- Joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Université Laval in 1989, Full Professor since 1997.
- Teaches several courses in mechanics and robotics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
- Supervision of more than 120 Master's and Ph.D. students
- Research activities are supported by grants from several agencies and industrial partners.
Research Experience Abroad
- Post-doctoral position at INRIA (Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique), Sophia-Antipolis, France, in 1988-89.
- Half-year sabbatical at the Institut für Getriebetechnik und Maschinendynamik of the Technische Hochschule in Aachen, Germany, in 1995. The research stay was supported by a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
- Three-month research stay at the University of Victoria in 1996. The research program was supported by the British Columbia Advanced Systems Institute.
- Two-month stay at the Institut de Recherche en Cybernétique de Nantes (IRCyN), France, in 1999 as visiting professor.
Research Activities
- Kinematics and dynamics of parallel mechanisms and manipulators;
- Mechanics of grasping and robot hand design;
- Cable-driven parallel mechanisms;
- Human-robot cooperation;
- Trajectory planning of robotic manipulators;
- Modelling and control of complex robotic systems.
Associations
- Fellow of the IEEE , fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) and fellow of the ASME. Member of the Order of Engineers of Quebec (OIQ).
Publications