Team
The PRIMA Québec team consists of experienced professionals who contribute to the leadership and development of the innovation ecosystem in the field of advanced materials in Quebec.
In addition to financing and mobilization programs, the team provides personalized assistance with the search for partners, the development of collaborative innovation projects and any other services required to meet the expectations of each of the hub’s members.

MARIE-PIERRE IPPERSIEL, PH. D.
PRESIDENT AND CEO
Marie-Pierre Ippersiel is President and Chief Executive Officer at PRIMA Québec. Prior to this, she spent over six years working as Vice-President for the cleantech industry cluster Écotech Québec. Among other responsibilities, she managed the cluster’s operations, coordinated steering committees and developed a variety of content (dissertations, studies, etc.). As Research Advisor for the Montreal Metropolitan Community (MMC) between 2004 and 2010, she helped implement the primary tools used in the Greater Montréal Economic Development Plan, including the cluster strategy. In 2003, she produced a notice on innovation in Quebec municipalities for the Conseil de la science et de la technologie. Ms. Ippersiel holds a PhD in Urban Studies from the INRS – Centre Urbanisation Culture Société, where she focused on science/industry relations and technological support for SMEs in college technology transfer centres. She took part in the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference in 2017 and co-chaired the Net-Zero Advisory Body from 2021 to 2023. She also sits on the boards of directors for Deep Tech Canada, Green Surface Engineering for Advanced Manufacturing Strategic Network, ADRIQ, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS).
mp.ippersiel@prima.ca
514 235-1627
514 284-0211, ext. 224

MICHEL LEFÈVRE, B. ING. PH. D.
DIRECTOR – PROGRAMS & INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS
Michel Lefèvre, Director – Programs and International collaborations, is responsible for the deployment of the various calls for projects in addition connecting with foreign partners. He also supports Quebec companies and academic researchers in their innovation projects in the field of advanced materials. With over 20 years of experience in materials research, analysis and development, Mr. Lefèvre has developed an expertise in battery and fuel cell nanomaterials and energetic materials. As a Materials Science Engineer at the Université Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), he obtained his doctorate on non noble metal catalyst for oxygen reduction for fuel cells in 2003 from the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique – Énergie Matériaux et Télécommunication (INRS-EMT) while working under Prof. Dodelet, a world leader in the field. As a INRS Research Associate in Prof. Dodelet’s research group, he co-invented two patents and co-authored 42 publications in journals that include Science and Nature Communications. In 2010, he co-founded Canetique Electrocatalysis Inc., a start-up that emerged from his INRS research, and has taken part in the company’s R&D and management activities for 5 years.
michel.lefevre@prima.ca
514 241-3322
514 284-0211, ext. 227

SÉBASTIEN GARBARINO, PH. D.
DIRECTOR, INFRASTRUCTURES AND INNOVATION
Sébastien Garbarino will be joining PRIMA Québec as an Infrastructure and Innovation Consultant. Mr. Garbarino will be in charge of the Infrastructure en Recherche et Développement du Québec (IRDQ); a unique tool intended to support Quebec companies and academic researchers in their innovation projects in the field of advanced materials.
With over 15 years of experience in materials research and development, Mr. Garbarino is an expert in the field of chemistry and nanomaterials for energy storage and conversion systems. After obtaining his Master’s Degree in Organic, Analytical and Marine Environmental Chemistry from the Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (France) in 2002, he completed his PhD in Electrochemistry in 2007 at University College Cork (Ireland) as part of the Surface Active Sites and Exhaust Fumes European network. With a passion for materials structuring (meso to nano) in the field of electrocatalysis, functionalized nanoparticles and the development of sensors and microsupercapacitors, Mr. Garbarino will pursue his post-doctoral training at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique – Energie Matériaux et Télécommunication (INRS-EMT).
As a INRS Research Associate in Prof. Guay’s research group since 2011, he co-invented three patents and co-authored 65 publications. Mr. Garbarino has also been recognized by a number of innovation contests (including the FRQNT and NSERC), granting him considerable knowledge of Quebec’s innovation ecosystem and funding opportunities.
sebastien.garbarino@prima.ca
438 504-6068
514 284-0211, ext. 226

CLOÉ BOUCHARD-AUBIN, Chemist, MBA
ADVISOR, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
Cloé Bouchard-Aubin joins the PRIMA Québec team as a innovation and technology advisor. In 2013, she completed her bachelor’s degree in chemistry and began her professional career working on various research and development projects in the field of bioproducts. This allowed her to be the co-inventor of three patents. Cloé completed her MBA at HEC Montréal in 2021 and in addition a microprogram in technological innovation and commercialization at Polytechnique Montréal.
Cloé’s role is to assist in setting up calls for projects, managing various databases while helping to facilitate networking between the industrial and research community in the advanced materials ecosystem.
cloe.bouchard-aubin@prima.ca
514 632-2429
514 284-0211, poste 225

LAURA SALATIAN-WEY
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Laura Salatian-Wey joined our team in 2021 as administrative and financial affairs manager. She began her professional career in 2008 as a social worker with a diploma in Social and Family Economy Advisor whose core business is based on expertise in areas of daily life: consumption, housing, employment, budget, food or health. Laura then obtained her Masters in teaching, education and training at the University of Aix- Marseille (France) in 2014, with a specialty in Medico-Social Sciences and Techniques which allowed her to teach and train students for their social and professional integration in the social and health fields.
Since arriving in Canada in 2019, Laura has shifted to more administrative jobs in order to develop her skills and put her organizational skills forward. With her rigor, her investment and her problem solving skills, she will provide logistical support to the entire team, be responsible for the different databases needed for the coordination of various projects and funding.
438 338-2357
514 284-0211, ext. 223

AMAURY LUCAS
PROJECT MANAGER
Graduated with a bachelor’s degree in project management and then a master’s degree in business engineering in France, he began his professional career in Montreal in an administrative position in 2019. He then discovered the environment of industrial research sector groupings in 2022 when he joined CRIBIQ as a Project Coordinator in the bioeconomy sector.
Organized, attentive and invested in his missions, Amaury has developed his skills by presenting to SMEs and research institutes, the various financing programs offered, including CRIBIQ-start-up and IA Entreprises, for which he was in charge. He accompanied and advised applicants according to their needs, putting them in touch with the right interlocutors, while ensuring a diligent follow-up of their file, from the submission of their application for funding to payment.
Joining PRIMA in 2023, his role is to participate in the development of the organization and ecosystem by monitoring collaborative innovation projects with companies. But also to follow structuring projects to support the ecosystem in the broad sense.
amaury.lucas@prima.ca
438 929-4939