Dr. Claude Laguë, P.Eng., ing., FCAE│FACG, FEC│FIC, is a tenured Professor in the School of Engineering Design and Teaching Innovation in the Faculty of Engineering. An agricultural engineer holding degrees from Université Laval and from the University of California, Davis, Dr. Laguë specializes in the engineering of agricultural machinery and manure management systems and in the assessment and mitigation of the environmental impacts of agricultural activities.
He is a registered Professional Engineer in Ontario and in Québec. Dr. Laguë is also a member of a number of engineering societies, including the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), the Canadian Society for Engineering in Agricultural, Food and Biological Systems (CSBE|SCGAB), and the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA|ACÉG). Dr. Laguë received the Young Engineer of the Year and the Glen Downing awards from CSBE|SCGAB in 1998 and 2001 respectively. In 1995, the Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS) presented him with an award for the best extension article written by a university professor.
He began his professional career as a project engineer for the consulting engineering firm Urgel Delisle et Associés. From 1989 to 1999 he held a faculty position at Université Laval, where his teaching and research activities focused on agricultural machinery engineering. While at Université Laval, Dr. Laguë also served as Vice-Dean (Research) of the Faculté des sciences de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation and he was the founding chair of the Département des sols et de génie agroalimentaire. In January 2000, Dr. Laguë was appointed to the Sask Pork Chair in Environmental Engineering for the Pork Industry industrial chair at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Engineering and he served as Dean of the College between 2002 and 2006.
Dr. Laguë was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ottawa in August 2006 and he completed his 10-year tenure on June 30, 2016. As the Chief Executive Officer of the Faculty of Engineering, Dr. Laguë's responsibilities extended to all academic and resource matters within the Faculty. He chaired the Faculty Council and the Faculty Executive Committee. At the University level, Dr. Laguë was a member of the University of Ottawa Senate. He has actively contributed to various committees, workgroups, and task forces dealing with academic, financial, labour relations, and space issues. A member of the National Council of Deans of Engineering and Applied Science (NCDEAS|CCDISA) from 2002 to 2016, Dr. Laguë chaired that organization between 2008 and 2011. In that capacity, he represented Canadian engineering schools at the Canadian Engineering Leadership Forum (CELF|FLGC) and served as an Advisor to Engineers Canada's Board of Directors. Between 2011 and 2013, Dr. Laguë served as Chair of the Council of Ontario Deans of Engineering (CODE).
He served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation (CEMF|FCGC) from 2009 to 2016 and on the Board of Actua between 2012 and 2016. Dr. Laguë was elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2014. In 2016, the Regroupement des gens d’affaires de la Capitale nationale (RGA) presented him with a ‘Coup de cœur’ prize in recognition of his important contributions to the promotion and support of student entrepreneurship at the University of Ottawa. And in 2016 also, Engineers Canada named Dr. Laguë a Fellow in recognition of his many contributions to the advancement of the engineering profession in Canada. The Faculty of Engineering has established the Claude Laguë Entrepreneurial Student of the Year Award that is presented annually to the engineering or computer science student or students who has/ve distinguished him/herself or themselves because of their intra- or entrepreneurial achievements.
Between September 2016 and April 2017, Dr. Laguë was a Fulbright Canada Scholar in California where he studied the “entrepreneurial ecosystems” in place in four major engineering schools (Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Davis, University of Southern California). From 2017 to 2019, Dr. Laguë was responsible for an institutional endeavour aimed at increasing and diversifying the sources of capital and operating revenues available to the University of Ottawa. In 2018 – 2019, he joined Engineers Canada as a volunteer Educator-in-Residence in the areas of equity and diversity and of professional accreditation of programs of studies in engineering. From February to April 2019, Dr. Laguë was a Visiting Professor at the Unleash Space of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Dr. Laguë served as the Special Advisor to the Provost and Vice-President, Academic Affairs on all matters related to campus reintegration during the COVID-19 pandemic between July 2020 and July 2022. Since 2019, he is responsible for the continuing education and professional development portfolio in the Faculty of Engineering.