André Bazergui has won the 2009 Grand Prize for Excellence, the highest distinction granted by the Québec Order of Engineers (OIQ). Awarded annually since 1991, the prize honours exemplary professional achievement by a Québec engineer. Dr. Bazergui is known and recognized for his teaching, as well as for his research activities and involvement with professional associations.
As a professor emeritus, ardent innovator and versatile and multi-talented engineer, Dr. Bazergui plays a key role in academia, as well as in the industrial sector and the socio-economic arena. With a degree in mechanical engineering from Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique (1963) and a doctorate from the University of Sheffield in England (1966), Dr. Bazergui spent more than 30 years at Ecole Polytechnique as a professor, researcher, department chair and managing director before joining the private sector.
Dr. Bazergui was appointed CEO of the Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Québec (CRIAQ) in January 2004. As a partner at Innovitech from 1998 to 2004, he carried out a number of important strategic initiatives, primarily in the aerospace, life sciences and media arts sectors.
In 2005, a report authored by Dr. Bazergui provided the impetus for a series of unprecedented initiatives by Québec’s Department of Immigration and Cultural communities (MICC) aiming at facilitating the integration of professionals immigrating to Québec. He also chaired the task force on the rapid recognition of diplomas and experienced acquired outside Québec.
Through the implementation of its professional excellence policy, the OIQ seeks to recognize the valuable and exemplary contributions of engineers whose careers testify to their adherence to professional values such as competence, responsibility, ethics and social commitment. The Grand Prize for Excellence also pays tribute to leadership, expertise and interpersonal skills.
Founded in 1920, the OIQ represents more than 57,000 engineering professionals in all disciplines with the exception of forestry. The engineer designation is exclusively reserved for OIQ members licensed to engage in professional practice. The OIQ seeks to regulate the field of engineering, to ensure the quality of the services provided by its members and to protect members of the public.