May 14th, 2013 – As part of the Campus Montréal major fundraising campaign, which brings together HEC Montréal, Polytechnique Montréal and Université de Montréal, the Trottier Family Foundation is making a donation of $10 million to create the Trottier Energy Institute at Polytechnique Montréal. This donation is among the largest received by Campus Montréal.

In thanking donor Lorne M. Trottier, Université de Montréal Rector Guy Breton said: “Your pledge is generous in its size, visionary in its purpose, and idealistic in its expression.” Mr. Trottier, an engineer by training, is co-founder of the software and hardware designer Matrox, and an ardent promoter of scientific research that benefits the public. His philanthropic work is carried out by the Trottier Family Foundation, led by Louise Rousselle-Trottier.

Mission of the Trottier Energy Institute

The Trottier Energy Institute’s mission is to “promote the search for solutions to help secure the future of energy in Québec, Canada and the world.” It takes a systemic and global approach, incorporating the technological, social and economic dimensions of energy-related issues.

Energy is one of Campus Montréal’s fields of excellence. More than a dozen departments at HEC Montréal, Polytechnique Montréal and Université de Montréal are active in the field. Christophe Guy, Chief Executive Officer of Polytechnique Montréal, explained: “Production, conversion, network optimization, consumer habits, component development, environmental impacts, management… we delve into every aspect of energy. But we were lacking a place where all our energy-related areas of excellence could converge. This is precisely what the Trottier Energy Institute will be, and it will help us make our campus graduates into the best-trained energy specialists in the world.”

The Trottier Energy Institute will be based at Polytechnique Montréal. It will bring together some 60 professors and researchers from the three Campus Montréal institutions. It will award annual excellence scholarships to students, lead interdisciplinary studies focusing on renewable energy and the development of new solutions, and seek, among other things, to enlighten public decision-makers on the best choices for ensuring the future and safety of energy in Québec and worldwide. The Trottier Energy Institute will also serve as a guiding light in the development of new training programs at the Campus Montréal establishments.

“Energy is the crux of so many issues, and the subject of so many billions of investment dollars, that energy management is a critical societal challenge in both hemispheres,” said Michel Patry, Director of HEC Montréal. “We applaud the creation of the Institute, which will help us enhance our own graduate programs in energy management and will enable us to make a significant contribution to resolving the problems facing the planet.”

Partnership with McGill University

One feature of this exceptional donation is the consolidation of a close partnership with McGill University. The Trottier Energy Institute in effect formalizes the numerous existing alliances between the Campus Montréal institutions and McGill. In 2012, in a similar gesture, the Trottier Family Foundation created the Trottier Institute for Sustainability in Engineering and Design (TISED) at McGill. The terms of Mr. Trottier’s commitment require that the two institutes carry out joint projects and hold annual joint public symposiums alternately at Polytechnique Montréal and McGill. A first bipartite science event has already been announced; the topic is Toward a 100% Clean-Energy Québec.

“Energy issues have huge technical, economic, environmental and social significance and Montréal is in a unique position to tackle them,” Mr. Trottier remarked. “Nowhere else in the world do we see internationally renowned French- and English-language institutions established side-by-side. By working together for the major fundraising campaign, Campus Montréal, the HEC-Polytechnique-Université de Montréal complex and McGill are gaining an impressive body of cutting-edge scientific knowledge and creating potential for unprecedented influence. A partnership like this, in a field as crucial as energy, can only exist in Montréal, and it will be the envy of other major university cities worldwide.”

About Campus Montréal

Campus Montréal is the umbrella organization bringing together HEC Montréal, Polytechnique Montréal and Université de Montréal for a joint fundraising campaign. These three institutions make up the biggest francophone university complex in the world, and the leading centre of university research in Canada. The institutions that make up Campus Montréal are in the top 1% of the world’s best universities. John Parisella is Executive Director of the Campus Montréal major fundraising campaign, with Louise Arbour, Hélène Desmarais, Geoffrey Molson, Michael Sabia and Thierry Vandal serving as Co-Chairs. With a goal of $500 million, this is the most ambitious fundraising campaign ever launched by French-language university institutions. To date, the Campus Montréal major campaign has succeeded in raising over $200 million.

Picture, from left to right: Miguel Anjos, interim Director of the Trottier Energy Institute, Polytechnique Montréal, Christophe Guy, CEO, Polytechnique Montréal, Lorne M. Trottier, Co-Founder, Matrox, and President, Trottier Family Foundation, Michel Patry, director of HEC Montréal, Guy Breton, Rector, Université de Montréal, John Parisella, Executive Director, Campus Montréal major fundraising campaign.