Department of Computer Science, Université de Sherbrooke
The inaugural Distinguished Service Award is presented to Marc Frappier to recognize his exceptional work in representing CS-Can|Info-Can, and the computer science community as a whole, in working to voice concerns about Bill n° 29 (PL-29) in the Province of Quebec. Bill n° 29, which was introduced in June, 2019, proposed to amend the Engineers Act and posed major concerns for many IT stakeholders in the province.
Professor Frappier took a lead role in the formation of the Coalition for the Future of Informatics (Coalition pour l’avenir de l’informatique). This coalition was established to convey the computer science community’s important concerns about the bill’s provisions with a common voice, and to invite the Government of Quebec to consider its recommendations.
Marc’s leadership on this issue ensured the Government of Quebec took into account the interests of the province’s industry and academics in the fields of computer science and artificial intelligence as well as the potentially negative impact of the bill on the free practice of these fields, which are crucial to the Quebec and Canadian economies.
Marc Frappier is a professor of Software Engineering in the Department of Computer Science at the Université de Sherbrooke. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Ottawa (1995), and his research interests focus on the formal specification, synthesis, and construction of software and its application to security and model-based testing. Marc has published more than a hundred papers in international journals and conferences, and he has co-edited two books. Before joining the University of Sherbrooke, he worked for more than five years in industry as a consultant, senior analyst, and project manager for several companies. His industrial activities led him to work in various domains, including manufacturing (Alcan et Cascades), banking (Royal Bank of Canada, National Bank of Canada, BFD/ÆBIS), pharmaceutical (Merck Frosst), aerospace (Canadian Space Agency) and telecommunications (Nortel).