Council Member
Dr. Pierre Rivard has spent 30 years advancing energy infrastructure and technology, with a strong commitment to developing Canadian national institutions within a cleaner and stronger economy. His career includes leadership roles as CEO, founder, chairman, board member, angel investor, advisor, and philanthropist for innovative companies and initiatives in Canada and California.
His work and governance experience spans diverse sectors, including indigenous and Arctic industrial infrastructure, defence and aerospace, AI artificial intelligence, direct air carbon capture, hydrogen fuel cells and electrolysers, wind and solar power, energy storage, lighter-than-air airships, water purification, flywheels, electric vehicles, small-scale LNG, and waste management. He has also presided over national industry and research associations and served on Canada's Clean Technology Economic Strategy Tables (CTEST).
Among his notable achievements, Dr. Rivard founded and led Hydrogenics (NASDAQ: HYGS), a hydrogen electrolyzer and fuel cell company Hydrogenics (HYGS), serving for 12 years as President and CEO and later as Executive Chairman. Under his leadership, Hydrogenics became Canada's fastest-growing company (ranked #1 on the Profit 100 list in 2003) and earned multiple awards, including Mississauga's Exporter of the Year and the PwC Canada Innovator of the Year. He built a globally recognized team with manufacturing operations in Germany, the United States, Belgium, Japan, and Canada, gaining extensive experience in hypergrowth, organizational restructuring, and complex international mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures.
Dr. Rivard is currently Executive Chairman and Founder at TUGLIQ Energy Corp., which focused on energy diversification for Northern mining sites. For the past 14 years, he has helped develop multiple industrial-scale renewable energy projects across the Canadian Arctic and Alaska. He also serves on the boards of, and invests in, 6 cleantech companies based in California and Canada. Earlier in his career, he served 21 years in the Canadian Air Force as an aerospace engineer, earning the Special Service Medal (SSM) for service in Norway and with NATO, and the Canadian Forces Decoration (CD).
Dr. Rivard holds an Honorary Doctorate of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto (Honoris Causa, in recognition of lifetime achievements in energy technology), an MBA from the Ivey School of Business at Western University, a Master of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada. He earned the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors (University of Toronto Rotman School of Management, 2021) and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Quebec and Ontario, and formerly in California and Norway.
Initially appointed to the NRC Council in June 2019 and re-appointed for a third term in February 2026, Dr. Rivard has served since 2021 as the Council representative on the NRC Departmental Audit Committee.