Nouvelles
Renewal of Professor Beaudry and Professor Kéna-Cohen Canada Research Chairs
Polytechnique Montréal’s Full Professor Catherine Beaudry (Department of Mathematics and Industrial Engineering), and Associate Professor Stéphane Kéna-Cohen (Department of Engineering Physics) have received support from the Canada Research Chairs Program for the realization of new mandates.

Professor Catherine Beaudry and Professor Stéphane Kéna-Cohen.
Through the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Industry, the Government of Canada has announced support totaling $1,9 million for the Tier 1 Research Chair led by Professor Beaudry, and the Tier 2 Research Chair directed by Professor Kéna-Cohen.
Tier 1 Canada Research Chairs are held by exceptional researchers who are recognized by their peers as global leaders in their field. They receive annual funding of $200,000 for seven years and funds are renewable.
Tier 2 Canada Research Chairs are held by outstanding new researchers who are recognized by their peers as having the potential to become leaders in their field. These chairs receive annual funding of $100,000 for five years and funds are renewable once.
In total, the federal government is contributing close to $151 million for 148 new or renewed Canada Research Chairs currently researching in 43 institutions. Through the John R. Evans Leaders Fund, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, a partner in the Canada Research Chairs Program, is investing more than $9.5 million in 43 Canada Research Chairs at 19 institutions.
“The Canada Research Chairs announced this week comprise the full diversity of Canada, both in terms of their backgrounds and training, as well as the broad range of disciplines they represent. This, in turn, helps to drive the research excellence we have come to expect from these outstanding scholars, as well as their contributions to the well-being and prosperity of Canadians,” noted Ted Hewitt, Chair, Canada Research Chairs Program Steering Committee; and President, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Roseann O’Reilly Runte, President and CEO, Canada Foundation for Innovation, had this to say: “The Canada Foundation for Innovation is proud to support the Canada Research Chairs Program through its John R. Evans Leaders Fund. The funding enables universities to retain and attract top researchers to Canada and allows all Canadians to benefit from their important discoveries.”
Voici une description des chaires de recherche renouvelées à Polytechnique :
Please read below a description of the renewed Research Chairs at Polytechnique:
Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Creation, Development and Commercialization of Innovation (Innovation Chair)
Holder: Full Professor Catherine Beaudry - Department of Mathematics and Industrial Engineering
The Canada Research Chair directed by Professor Beaudry focuses on the concept of innovation ecosystems, which is a set of interrelated actors - small, medium and large companies, universities, governments, organizations, etc. - that are involved in innovation and in obtaining results from innovation.
Innovation ecosystems are viewed as having the ability to generate more value for an organization than if that organization were isolated, in addition to increasing agility and resilience. One premise is that digital transformation and extended collaboration will improve innovation outcomes. In addition, connected objects and other digital entities are enmeshing with collaboration mechanisms and forcing a rethinking of many theories, including proximities, open innovation and networks.
While innovation ecosystems hold great promise for increasing competitiveness, high-skilled employment, and positive impacts on society, there are few reliable indicators to measure their impacts. The Innovation Chair's work focuses on the creation of analytical models at multiple levels (organizations, ecosystem, society) and indicators on which governance and public policies specific to innovation ecosystems can be based.
For this new mandate, the Chair headed by Professor Beaudry wishes to determine the role of and measure the impact of different types of emerging technologies as agents facilitating technological proximity within and between organizations. The Innovation Chair also aims to describe elements, identify mechanisms and propose indicators to measure the impact of good governance - including digital governance - within different types of ecosystems, such as knowledge, innovation, business and platform ecosystems.
The Innovation Chair intends to measure the results of innovation within different types of ecosystems and within society, as well as identifying and measuring the influence of nations as a catalyst for innovation within different types of innovation ecosystems.
Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Light-Matter Photonics
Holder: Associate Professor Stéphane Kéna-Cohen - Department of Engineering Physics
The Canada Research Chair led by Professor Kéna-Cohen is interested in the development of photonic devices used to generate, detect, and manipulate light. As part of this second mandate, the Chair will develop optical components composed of molecular and two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors. These classes of materials interact strongly with light and allow the low-cost manufacture of high-performance photonic components, as well as their integration into complex photonic circuits.
In order to take advantage of the unique properties of these materials, the Chair will develop new optical structures to control and amplify the light-matter interaction on a nanoscale. Such optical "antennas" will allow the development of ultrasensitive sensors and nonlinear optical devices as well as the generation of quantum light.
In the extreme context of strong light-matter interaction, new quasiparticles called polaritons can be created. Professor Kéna-Cohen and his team will develop organic polariton condensates based on the use of stable molecular radicals as well as polariton arrays, allowing the simulation of complex quantum systems in an efficient way. The Chair will also explore the mesoscopic regime where a small number of molecules are strongly coupled to a single electromagnetic field mode. This regime could overcome important challenges limiting the performance of existing organic light-emitting diodes and organic lasers.
Finally, the Chair will pursue the development of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on 2D materials emitting in the mid-infrared (MIR). Recently invented by Professor Kena-Cohen's group, these LEDs can be tuned and easily integrated into silicon-based photonic circuits. They have many advantages over existing commercial LEDs in terms of cost and performance.
Congratulations to Professor Beaudry and Professor Kéna-Cohen!
Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellowships The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) have reported on the research grants awarded in competitions held in 2020 and 2021. As part of these competitions, 8 graduate students at Polytechnique received scholarships worth a total of $653,500 for research work that will be carried out over one to three years. |
Lean more
Professor Catherine Beaudry expertise
Professor Stéphane Kéna-Cohen expertise
Department of Mathematics and Industrial Engineering website (in French)
Department of Engineering Physics website
Canada Research Chairs Program website
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada website
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council website
Canadian Institutes of Health Research website