Dr. Etienne P. D. Mansard

Executive Director, NRC Canadian Hydraulics Centre

Dr. Etienne Mansard, Executive Director of the NRC Canadian Hydraulics Centre, formerly known as the Hydraulics Laboratory, was born in Karaikal, previously a French territory in South India. He obtained a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Annamalai and a Master's degree in Hydraulics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. After working for three years in India, Dr. Mansard continued his research at the University of Grenoble, France and obtained a Diplôme des Études approfondies and a Docteur-Ingénieur degree.

Dr. Mansard joined NRC in 1976. He became Business Development Manager of the NRC Canadian Hydraulics Centre (NRC-CHC) in 1995 as it was transforming into a full cost-recovery centre. Nominated Acting Director of NRC-CHC in January 2000, Dr. Mansard was subsequently selected as Executive Director in June 2000.

During his career, Dr. Mansard has developed several state-of-the-art concepts for the simulation of sea states in laboratory basins in order to advance the understanding of the complex physics involved in wave-structure interactions. He is recognized as one of the leading experts in laboratory reproduction of waves, and has participated in several international committees on waves and breakwaters. Also very active in international collaborations, Dr. Mansard is a long-time member of the International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research (IAHR), which has more than 2000 members worldwide. He is now President of the IAHR after having served the Association in a number of roles.

In June 2004, Dr. Mansard was bestowed the title of Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering from his engineering peers.