An engineer by training, Jacques St-Laurent makes an important contribution to the consolidation of Montreal as one of the three largest aerospace centers in the world. After beginning his career in the Canadian Armed Forces, he was recruited as a flight test engineer for Bell Helicopter. He subsequently rose rapidly through the corporate ladder. First Canadian to reach the position of Vice President Engineering in 1998, Bell Helicopter appointed him as head of the company in 2002. Since September 2008, he chaired the European operations of Bell Helicopter Textron Limited. In its willingness to develop the aerospace industry in Montreal, Mr. St-Laurent has participated with other industry leaders to create Aero Montreal, the Aerospace Cluster of Metropolitan Montreal. Jacques St-Laurent has also encouraged companies in Quebec's aerospace sector to develop partnerships with academic institutions. With this merger, the École Polytechnique, which will offer the first undergraduate program in Quebec in aerospace engineering this fall, has received support businesses in terms of research and development, as well as for the training of specialists in this area.