Sylvain Charbonneau received his B. Sc. And M.Sc. in Physics from the University of Ottawa and his Ph.D. degree in Photonics – Semiconductor Physics from Simon Fraser University in 1988. He joined the Institute for Microstructural Sciences of the National Research Council (NRC) in October 1988. He has published over 180 papers and has seventeen patents and licenses in the field of photonics, nanotechnology and ICT. 

In late 2000, Dr. Charbonneau co-founded Optenia Inc., an NRC spin-off in the communications technology sector. With 56 employees, the company focused on novel WDM components for fiber to the home application. As founder and Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Charbonneau’s responsibilities included the management of all research and development activities and the formulation of the research road map for the firm. 

In 2002, Dr. Charbonneau returned to the Institute for Microstructural Sciences as the lead Director responsible for the construction, the implementation, the management and operation of the CPFC and several other groups within the Institute. In May 2011, Mr. Charbonneau was named Executive Director responsible for the strategic development of the Printable Electronic Flagship Program – one of four such programs across NRC. Once fully deployed, this program included a multidisciplinary team of over 100 FTE with a budget of $50M over 5 years. 

In April 2013, Dr. Charbonneau took the position of Associate Vice-President, Research at the University of Ottawa. He became Vice-President, Research in January 2018.