Sylvain Laporte is a

Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

veteran who served as the 11th president of the Canadian Space Agency from March 2015 until September 3, 2020.

Early life

Sylvain Laporte was born in

Quebec, Canada Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

. Due to his father serving in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), he grew in various areas in Canada including

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, and

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

but also in Lahr, Germany. Laporte's hobbies include major renovations and fixing cars.

Career

Canadian Forces

Sylvain Laporte started his career after getting a bachelor's degree in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

and master's degree in

computer engineering Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software. It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. Computer engi ...

from the

Royal Military College of Canada The Royal Military College of Canada (), abbreviated in English as RMC and in French as CMR, is a Military academy#Canada, military academy and, since 1959, a List of universities in Canada#Ontario, degree-granting university of the Canadian ...

(RMC), Sylvain Laporte earned his two degrees while serving in the military from 1978–1989 as an aerospace engineer.

Canada Post

After leaving the CAF, Sylvain Laporte joined

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...

as director of information technology. He held this post for two years before becoming director for retail. He held this role for five years, before becoming director of logistics, which he held for two years.

Industry Canada

After leaving Canada Post in 2007, Laporte was hired as chief informatics officer for

Industry Canada Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED; ; )''Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Industry (). is a department of the G ...

. Laporte held this role for two years before becoming executive director of the Integrated Technologies Office within Industry Canada. In April 2011, Laporte was hired as chief executive officer of the

Canadian Intellectual Property Office The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO; French: ''Office de la propriété intellectuelle du Canada, OPIC'') is responsible for the administration and processing of the greater part of intellectual property (IP) in Canada. CIPO's areas ...

, which he held for four years until March 2015.

Canadian Space Agency president

In March 2015, Laporte was appointed as the 11th

Canadian Space Agency The Canadian Space Agency (CSA; ) is the national space agency of Canada, established in 1990 by the ''Canadian Space Agency Act''. The President of the Canadian Space Agency, president is Lisa Campbell (civil servant), Lisa Campbell, who took ...

(CSA) president, taking over from Luc Brule who had been serving as interim president following the departure of Walter Natynczyk. On October 21, 2019, Laporte appeared at the

International Astronautical Federation The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is an international space advocacy organization based in Paris, and founded in 1951 as a non-governmental organization to establish a dialogue between scientists around the world and to lay t ...

alongside representatives from various space organizations including

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

ESA The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European ...

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...

, the

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) is a major space research centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), focusing on rocket and space vehicles for India's satellite programme. It is located in Thiruvananthapuram, in the India ...

Roscosmos The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a State corporation (Russia), state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space science, space flights, List of space agencies, c ...

and the

Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO ) is India's national List of government space agencies, space agency, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It serves as the principal research and development arm of the Department of Space (DoS), ...

. He announced in September 2020 that he would leave the role of CSA president.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laporte, Sylvain Living people Royal Military College of Canada alumni Presidents of the Canadian Space Agency Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)