André Fortin

André Fortin is considered an international authority in applied mathematics and has contributed enormously to the advancement of research and to the training of future researchers. Throughout his career, he has been putting Université Laval and the Faculty of Science and Engineering in the spotlight through his award-winning work and appearances at international conferences.

Research that makes waves

André Fortin has been a highly prolific researcher over the years. He has more than 80 publications in high-level scientific journals and is particularly noted for his work on approaches based on the finite element method (FEM). Among his contributions to the field is the development of a software program using FEM.

His arrival in 2000 as a full professor with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and director of GIREF – Groupe interdisciplinaire de recherche en éléments finis (Finite Element Interdisciplinary Research Group) put GIREF on the world stage. Under his leadership, the group was recognized as an official research laboratory of CRM – Centre de recherches mathématiques—one of the largest mathematics research centres in the world. Attesting to its stature, GIREF’s applied mathematics research has now been funded by Michelin for a number of years.

Professor Fortin held an Industrial Research Chair from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) from 2006 to 2017 in addition to the numerous collaborative research and development grants he has received. Between 2006 and 2023, André Fortin and his group’s work in applied mathematics brought in more than $8 million in research funding and attracted other industrial partners, such as Hydro-Québec.

In 2012 he was awarded the prestigious CAIMS-Fields Industrial Mathematics Prize by the Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society (CAIMS), which recognizes exceptional research. 

Mentoring the future

Alongside his work as a researcher, Professor Fortin has supervised 40 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows throughout his career. His outstanding support has seen many of them publish research in high-level journals, while others have landed jobs with elite research and development companies or on the faculty of universities around the world.

In addition to training highly qualified researchers in applied mathematics, he has provided future engineers with an introduction to digital methods in book form. His Analyse numérique pour ingénieurs (Digital Analysis for Engineers) is considered a standard reference in French on digital analysis methods at the undergraduate level. It was awarded the Roberval Prize in 1996. To date it has sold more than 19,000 copies and is in its fifth edition. He has also designed a version of his graduate-level course in digital analysis methods for students in financial engineering.

Alongside his work with university students, Professor Fortin has also invested a great deal of time teaching and reaching out to people earlier on in their education through numerous talks for CEGEP students.

And he maintained this exceptional productivity in research and excellence in teaching while serving three terms as director of the Integrated Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science program. André Fortin has not just maintained an outstanding level of academic activity, but has exceeded what is normally expected of full professors in terms of research, teaching and participation in the life of their department.