Madeleine McPherson — Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering department, University of Victoria, and Principal Investigator, Sustainable Energy Systems Integration & Transitions Group

Previously, McPherson worked as a Post-Doctoral researcher in the Grid Systems Analysis group at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado. McPherson obtained her PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto in 2017. Her research focuses on integrating high penetrations of wind and solar PV onto electricity systems around the world. She has explored questions ranging from the impact of renewable resource characteristics on integration strategies, storage assets remuneration and integration in electricity system markets, and the interaction between electric vehicle charging profiles and grid decentralization. More recently, McPherson has developed and applied a methodology for exploring the role of demand response for facilitating increasing renewable penetrations. McPherson is the lead-author on numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, conference proceedings, reports, and presentations. Currently, McPherson is developing an integrated modelling framework to explore the sustainable energy transition in Canada.

Normand Mousseau — Academic Director, Institut de l’énergie Trottier (IET), Polytechnique Montréal, and Professor of physics, Université de Montréal

Mousseau has extensive experience in leading such large collaborative projects and reflections. In 2013, he was co-chair of Quebec’s Energy Commission, that toured Quebec and prepared a report as a basis for Quebec’s most recent energy strategy. During this commission he met with more than 800 individuals and groups, receiving more than 450 memoirs. As the Academic Director of IET, he led the preparation of multiple reports, including on energy modelling. He also led an initiative bringing 22 academics from a dozen specialities and most universities in Quebec to propose a revision of Quebec’s environmental governance, including a public consultation and a national forum.

Louis Beaumier — Executive Director, Institut de l’énergie Trottier (IET), Polytechnique Montréal.

An electrical engineer by training, Louis Beaumier worked for almost two decades in the software industry where he has been involved in various application domains, ranging from distributed immersive simulation systems to speech recognition interfaces. The experi­ence he has acquired over the years in his various positions – from developer to R&D director – lead him to see that a misunderstood problem, like a poorly presented solution, is often the main source of difficulties in a project. After many years in product management, where he acted on both understanding the need and presenting the solution, came the opportunity to join the IET at his alma mater, adding the sense of engagement that was missing from his previous duties. He has since been actively involved at expanding the activities of the IET, by organizing meetings and conferences, writing reports or fostering partnership and collaboration.