Happy retirement to Denis Lafrance, Executive Director of Optech!

Denis Lafrance will retire at the end of December and will be succeeded by Deputy Director Mr. Maroun Massabki.

“It is with great pride that I retire. We have faced many challenges, but we also seized important opportunities, such as the first NSERC IIs and special funding from the Québec government, which allowed us to build a strong and relevant team. Rooted in respect and the appreciation of its team members, Optech will continue to rely on their passion to achieve the many small gains that together make a real difference for society” said Mr. Denis Lafrance.

After 16 years as Executive Director of Optech, Denis Lafrance will retire at the end of December.

He began his career with a Ph.D. at INRS–Energy and Materials as part of the Tokamak de Varennes project, which focused on building a magnetic confinement device for nuclear fusion at Hydro-Québec’s research institute (IREQ). He then pursued a career in the private sector with MPB Communications and ITF Technologies Inc., specializing in research and development in optics applied to natural resources, security, and telecommunications. In 2005, he took over as Executive Director of Optech at its Montréal site. Under his leadership, Optech grew into a team of 30 employees with annual business revenues of $4 million.

Denis Lafrance also served for many years on the Board of Directors of the Québec Photonics Network (RPQ). In 2017, he contributed to the creation of the Optonique excellence cluster, where he remained on the board until June 2021.

In 2018, he also joined the Board of Directors of Synchronex (then called Réseau TransTech). In the fall of 2019, he became Chairman of the Board of Synchronex.

Happy retirement, Mr. Lafrance!