After graduating from the University of Ottawa with a bachelor’s degree (Physics, 1985) and a master’s degree (Physics, 1987), Jacques Beauvais obtained his Ph.D. in physics from Université Laval in 1990.
He was appointed as professor of electrical engineering at the Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS) in 1993. He established the first nanolithography laboratory in a Canadian university and after leading a nanomaterials research centre, he became a co-founder of the Interdisciplinary Institute for Technological Innovation at UdeS. His is co-inventor of seven US patents on the nanofabrication techniques of electronic and photonics devices. Six patents arising from the research activities of his group were the basis of a startup company, Quantiscript inc., where he was president from 1999 to 2004, then vice-president, technology, from 2004 to 2006.
From 2007 onwards, his research activities focused mainly on developing carbon nanotube-based sensors which are at the core of an additional patent application. He is the author or co-author of over 170 journal papers and conference presentations, and 4 book chapters.
In 2007, Jacques Beauvais was named Vice-President, Research, at the Université de Sherbrooke and then Vice-President, Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in 2014. At UdeS, he was responsible for the concept development, the funding and the launch of the MiQro Innovation Collaborative Centre (C2MI) in Bromont, Québec, in partnership with IBM Canada and Teledyne Dalsa. C2MI is an industry-university research centre for semiconductor packaging and microsystems initially funded with an investment of more than 200M$ from the provincial and federal governments and from industry.
He was a council member of the National Research Council of Canada (2009-2012) and is a past Chair of the advisory board of the Security and Disruptive Technologies Research Centre at the NRC. He was a board member of Mitacs from 2015 to 2019. He served as a member of the board of directors of the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et Technologies (2009-2016), and he has been a member of its Committee for the responsible conduct of research since 2017.
He was Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Ottawa from 2017 to 2024. He holds the position of Provost and Vice-President, Academic Affairs since January 16, 2024.