Philippe Simard has been acting as the Chief Executive Officer of SimActive since its creation in 2003. Under his leadership, the company rapidly positioned itself at the forefront of the industry. Through his efforts, SimActive has experienced exponential global growth as the software is now used by thousands in over 100 countries. His prestigious achievements include adoption of Correlator3D™ by governments, military organizations and the leading mapping firms around the world. He holds a doctorate in electrical engineering from McGill University, where he completed his research in computer vision. Within two years of forming SimActive, he won the prestigious Young Innovator Award from the Networks of Centres of Excellence, which honors top Canadian researchers whose work benefits society.
Louis Simard is the Chief Technology Officer of SimActive, overseeing the R&D activities since its creation in 2003. His contribution has been instrumental to the digital revolution of photogrammetry. Guided by his vision, the company has consistently challenged the status quo of existing methodologies. The foremost of his technological breakthroughs includes creating the first GPU-accelerated commercial product, resulting in previously unachievable processing speeds. Adherence to his “simple is powerful” philosophy has resulted in the widespread use of photogrammetry, regardless of technical know-how. Mr Simard holds a Master's degree from McGill University with specialization in computer vision. His research has led to many publications and presentations in international conferences.
Luc Simard has been a partner at Samson Bélair / Deloitte & Touche for more than 25 years. As an auditor and business advisor for a variety of companies in manufacturing, retail, professional services and public organizations, he has acquired solid expertise in business management and decision making. Mr Simard is a Chartered Accountant who graduated from HEC Montréal and Université du Québec. He currently sits on numerous boards of private companies and not-for-profit organizations.
Pierre Nelis has been a key player in the development of Softimage, the leader in special effects software with a number of Academy Awards to its credit. After overseeing Softimage's merger with Microsoft, he became Business Development Director of the Microsoft Advanced Technology division and Vice-President of the Softimage business unit. Graduated from the Management Institute of McGill University and from Université Laval within the Corporation Governance Program offered by the Collège des administrateurs de sociétés, Mr Nelis currently sits on a number of private company Boards, as well as in the community network.