Sylvain Laporte is a

Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

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 ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...

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

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

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, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

and master's degree in

computer engineering Computer engineering (CoE or CpE) is a branch of electrical engineering and computer science that integrates several fields of computer science and electronic engineering required to develop computer hardware and software. Computer engineers ...

from the

Royal Military College of Canada '') , established = 1876 , type = Military academy , chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Harry Kowal , head_label ...

(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 (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...

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; french: Innovation, Sciences et Développement économique Canada; french: ISDE, label=none)''Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal I ...

. 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; french: Agence spatiale canadienne, ASC) is the national space agency of Canada, established in 1990 by the ''Canadian Space Agency Act''. The president is Lisa Campbell, who took the position on September 3, 2020 ...

(CSA) president, taking over from Luc Brule who had been serving as interim president following the departure of

Walter Natynczyk Walter John Natynczyk, ( ; born October 29, 1957) is a Canadian public servant and retired Canadian Army general who has served as Deputy Minister of Veterans Affairs from 2014 to 2021. He was the President of the Canadian Space Agency from ...

. 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 agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

ESA , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

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 orb ...

, 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 Space Corporation "Roscosmos" (russian: Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности «Роскосмос»), commonly known simply as Roscosmos (russian: Роскосмос) ...

and the

Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...

. 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)