Dr. Richard Normandin

Vice-President, Physical Sciences

Dr. Richard Normandin is NRC Vice-President, Physical Sciences. Appointed in May 2003, his current portfolio includes seven NRC research institutes on Astrophysics, Chemical Process and Environmental Technology, Microstructural Sciences, Information Technology, National Measurement Standards, Molecular Sciences and Nanotechnology.

He is also responsible for the Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Program and he recently established an NRC Sustainable Technology Initiative. As part of his portfolio, Dr. Normandin leads discussions on issues of national importance, including the development of NRC strategies on nanotechnology, astrophysics and measurement standards.

Dr. Normandin joined NRC in 1981 and became the Director General of the NRC Institute for Microstructural Sciences (NRC-IMS) in 1998. At NRC-IMS he spearheaded the Solid State Optoelectronics Consortium, was Group Leader of the Optoelectronics Devices Group and Director, Component Technologies.

He received a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the Université de Montréal and a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 1980. He was the recipient of a Rutherford Memorial Scholarship from the Royal Society of Canada, which supported his post-doctoral studies at Stanford University.

During his career, Dr. Normandin has published more than 170 papers in the field of optoelectronics and holds over 25 patents. In 1995, he was elected a 'Fellow' of the Optical Society of America for distinguished service and technological contributions to optoelectronics and nonlinear optics. He also received the "Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation" from the Governor General of Canada and an "Outstanding Achievement Award" from NRC. In 2000, the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) and the National Optics Institute (INO) awarded Dr. Normandin the CAP-INO Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Applied Photonics.