Vincent Chornet
President & Chief Executive Officer
Vincent Chornet is co-founder of Enerkem. Since Enerkem’s inception in 2000, Mr. Chornet has been responsible for the company’s development, securing more than $150 million in private and government financing, as well as commercial agreements representing more than $200 million in industrial projects. His entrepreneurial mind guided Enerkem’s proprietary technology from inauguration to commercialization, while his vision and leadership grew the company from 0 to more than 70 employees.
From 1996 to 2002, prior to founding and heading Enerkem, Mr. Chornet was involved as a consultant and as an entrepreneur in the development and funding of industrial projects in the power production and speciality chemical sectors, and in assisting start-up companies. Before 1996, he worked at the Laurentian Bank of Canada.
Mr. Chornet holds a Bachelor's Degree in Commerce and Finance from École des Hautes Études Commerciales in Montréal.
Patrice Ouimet
Chief Financial Officer
Patrice Ouimet joined Enerkem as its Vice-president and Chief Financial Officer in February 2010. Prior to joining Enerkem, Patrice Ouimet was Vice-President, Corporate Development and Enterprise Risk Management for Gildan Activewear, an international apparel manufacturer and marketer. His responsibilities centered on corporate strategy, treasury, risk management, internal audit and investor relations.
Mr. Ouimet previously worked ten years in the investment banking sector, where he provided strategic and financial advice on mergers and acquisitions as well as capital markets transactions to a diversified client base, primarily in the industrial and paper & forest products sectors. Mr. Ouimet was Director, Mergers and Acquisitions at Lazard and Director, Investment Banking at CIBC World Markets. Mr. Ouimet started his career with Ernst & Young as an audit practitioner.
Mr. Ouimet holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University and a Diploma in Accountancy from Concordia University. Mr. Ouimet is a Chartered Accountant.
Dino Mili
Vice-President,
Business Development
Dino Mili became Enerkem’s Vice-President of Business Development in October 2007. Mr. Mili has more than 15 years of professional experience in the industrial and renewable energy sectors and related fields. Mr. Mili also worked on energy projects representing investments of more than $350 million. His responsibilities have centred on development, acquisition, and project financing for energy sector projects, including hydroelectricity, wind, forestry biomass, and landfill gas projects. He has worked with a major Canadian hydroelectric and wind developer to finance a major wind project in Québec. He has also worked with Domtar Inc., a pulp & paper company, in developing an energy project aimed at reducing the company's energy costs and exposure to fossil fuel prices. Previously, he held the position of Vice President of Business Development for CHI Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Enel GreenPower, a world leader in the renewable energy sector, to develop the company's Canadian market.
Mr. Mili is a Chartered Accountant, and worked for 8 years with Price Waterhouse, a major international accounting firm, before moving to the energy sector.
Esteban Chornet
Chief Technology Officer
Esteban Chornet is co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Enerkem, providing vision, direction, mentoring, catalytic reaction engineering expertise and process integration. Mr. Chornet taught the fundamentals of the discipline and conducted advanced research in the biomass, energy, and environmental sectors at the University of Sherbrooke, located in Sherbrooke, Québec (Canada). During his career as Professor of Chemical Engineering, Dr. Chornet supervised 74 graduate theses (among them18 Ph.D’s) from which over 200 refereed publications are available in the scientific and engineering literature. From 1993 to 2003, Mr. Chornet was a Principal Research Engineer with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in Colorado (USA).
Dr. Chornet received the 1984 Steacie Fellowship Award from the Government of Canada and was a 2004 laureate of the Prix Lionel Boulet, which is the highest technology prize awarded every year by the Government of Quebec. He is a Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Canada's Academy of Sciences. He holds, since 2007, the Industrial Research Chair in 2nd Generation Biofuels of the University of Sherbrooke.
Dr. Chornet holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from ETSIIB in Barcelona, Catalunya (Spain) and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University, Pennsylvania (USA). From 1970 to 2007 he was Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Sherbrooke.
Jocelyn Auger
Vice-President and General Counsel
Jocelyn Auger has over 10 years of commercial and legal experience within both law firms and corporate settings. He joined Enerkem as its Vice-President and General Counsel in October 2008.
Before joining Enerkem, Mr. Auger was a partner at one of Canada's fastest-growing independent law firms, where he also served as the co-chair Business & Technology Practice Group and was responsible for the firm's information technology operations. In his years as practitioner, Mr. Auger gained substantial experience in the execution and management of activities related to licensing, the establishment of joint ventures, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and other commercial transactions.
Jocelyn Auger holds degrees from the University of Sherbrooke and the European Academy of Legal Theory in Brussels, Belgium. In addition, he is a member of the Barreau du Québec and the Licensing Executive Society (LES).
Denis Arguin
Vice-President,
Engineering & Implementation
Denis Arguin became Enerkem’s Vice-President of Engineering & Implementation in May 2008. Before joining Enerkem, Mr. Arguin was Director of Process Technology at Minerals Technologies Inc. in Pennsylvania (USA). Prior to that, he was the Director of European Operations in a division of MTI, based in Brussels, Belgium.
Before pursuing his Executive MBA, he held the position of Regional Manager for the Northeast Canada and U.S. region at Mintech Canada Inc. Mr. Arguin has also gained extensive experience through his work at Montreal-based petrochemical companies such as Kemtec, Union Carbide, and Gulf Oil Refinery Ltd.
Mr. Arguin holds an Executive MBA in Operations Management from the University of Western Ontario, and a Bachelor's Degree (B. Science) in Chemical Engineering from Université de Sherbrooke.
Marie-Hélène Labrie
Vice-President,
Government Affairs & Communications
Marie-Hélène Labrie joined Enerkem as its Vice-President of Government Affairs & Communications in May 2008. Ms. Labrie previously worked as a Strategy and Marketing Consultant for Enerkem and other companies, including Oliver Wyman Delta Organization & Leadership and Desjardins Financial Security. She has also held the position of Director of Marketing and Strategic planning for CAE, a world leader in aviation simulation and training. In this position, she was responsible for marketing communications, strategic planning, market analyses, and competitive intelligence. Ms. Labrie began her career working for the Government of Canada, in the Department of National Defense, Industry Canada, and the Privy Council Office.
Ms. Labrie holds a Master's Degree in International Business (MSc.) and a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration (BBA) from Université Laval in Québec.
