14 Montréal personalities join QI
The QI ambassadors are: Éric Bergeron, President and CEO, Optosecurity; Pierre Boivin, President and CEO, Claridge Inc.; Jean-François Bouchard, President and Senior Partner, Sid Lee; Lyse Brunet, General Manager, Avenir d'enfants; Madeleine Careau, CEO, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal; François Côté, Executive Vice-President and Vice-Chair, TELUS Québec and President, and TELUS Health Solutions; Marcel Côté, Founding Partner, KPMG/Secor; Daniel Lamarre, President and CEO, Cirque du Soleil; Michel Leblanc, President and CEO, Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montréal; Monique Leroux, Chair of the Board, President and CEO, Desjardins Group; Sir Terence H. Matthews, Chairman and Founder, Wesley Clover; Andy Nulman, President and CEO, Just for Laughs; Danny Ritter, Partner, RSM Richter; and Martine Turcotte, Vice-Chair, Québec, Bell.
These ambassadors will help promote the QI and raise awareness of the project and its potential spin-offs, locally and internationally, while sharing their experience and know-how with the various partners. Similar innovation districts have been developed in most other major cities that are known as hubs of knowledge, including Boston, Helsinki and Barcelona. Like Montreal, which is recognized as a city of ideas, the QI will be a leader in the areas of innovation, cutting-edge research, education and the creation of partnerships. This project will be a great source of pride for all Montréalers, and a leading player on the economic, social, educational and cultural scenes in Québec and Canada.
"We are honoured to have such a diversified and impressive group of ambassadors we can count on," said Yves Beauchamp. "In assembling this network of experts, our goal was to reflect the innovative and visionary spirit of the Quartier de l'innovation. I am confident that, thanks to this team of leaders from the business, educational, social and cultural communities in Montréal, the QI will heighten Montrealers' pride in their city and become a key player on the economic, social, educational and cultural scenes, in Quebec and Canada."
The collaboration between two educational institutions in a project of this scope is a first in Canada. The QI will create favourable conditions for the development of ideas, for the creation and development of partnerships, and for the introduction of services tailored to the vision of technological, social and cultural businesses, as well as to educators, students, researchers, industry and residents of the Greater Montreal Area. The urban development associated with the QI will be based on the integration of the four essential components of a creative society: industrial, training and research, urban and sociocultural.
These ambassadors believe in the mission of the Quartier de l'innovation: McGill and ÉTS are combining their efforts and their leadership to create the conditions that will lead to the development of a high-quality district. The QI will be home to a creative and engaged community who will spark the development of an innovative and entrepreneurial culture built upon the four components that are essential to a knowledge-centred metropolis.
About the Quartier de l'innovation (QI)
The mission of the QI is to create, around knowledge institutions, favourable conditions for establishing an urban district of the highest quality, based on international standards, which brings together a creative and engaged community with the purpose of driving the development of an innovative and entrepreneurial culture that balances four pillars: industrial, education and research, social and cultural, and urban. The objectives of the QI is to promote innovation and organize activities to support and animate it; accelerate the development of technological, social and cultural businesses; promote the development of innovative initiatives highlighting the expertise of its partners and institutions; and create bridges and opportunities in order to increase the exchanges involving the QI's four pillars. For more information: www.quartierinnovationmontreal.com
About ÉTS
École de technologie supérieure is one of the ten constituent institutions of the Université du Québec network. ÉTS trains engineers and researchers who are renowned for their practical and innovative approach and the development and transfer of new technologies to business applications. Nearly one in four Québec engineers currently graduates from ÉTS, which boasts 6,700 students, including more than 1,500 at the graduate and post-graduate level. ÉTS specializes in applied training and engineering research, and has developed a unique partnership with the business and industrial communities. For more information, visit http://www-eng.etsmtl.ca/.
About McGill University
Founded in Montreal, Québec, in 1821, McGill is Canada's leading university. It has two campuses, 11 faculties, 11 professional schools, 300 programs and more than 37,800 students, including 8,300 graduate and post-graduate students. McGill attracts students from over 150 countries around the world, with more than 7,200 international students making up 20 per cent of the student body. Almost half of McGill students claim a first language other than English, including more than 6,200 francophones. For more information, visit www.mcgill.ca.
