Our Leadership Team

Danny Grenier, Eng., MBA

President

Danny, co-founder of Virage Simulation in 2005, is a seasoned professional electrical engineer with a degree in Computer Design Engineering from Laval University (1989). He furthered his expertise by earning an MBA from Concordia University in 2004.

Bringing over 16 years of experience from his time at CAE, Danny has a deep understanding of real-time software simulation. During his tenure, he held several key leadership roles, including Software System Design Department Manager and Hardware Engineering Department Manager, where he oversaw more than 100 engineers. He also led the Simulated Instruments Manufacturing unit, responsible for producing cost-effective aircraft electronic instrument replicas for simulators.

At Virage Simulation, Danny has spearheaded the development and integration of the company’s hardware, software, and training technology. His leadership extends to managing the simulator manufacturing unit, ensuring seamless deliveries, and overseeing post-delivery customer support.

With his vast experience, Danny ensures that our products are delivered on time and that our customers enjoy a superior driving simulator experience.

Rémi Quimper, Eng.

Vice-President Business Development

Rémi, a co-founder of Virage Simulation in 2005, is a professional engineer from l’École Polytechnique with a strong background in simulation and training from the aerospace industry. He is an experienced leader having directed the development of many new products including CAE SimfinityTM which was awarded several prestigious international prizes such as the Frost & Sullivan Technology 2004, the Frost & Sullivan Product Innovation 2004 and the Pinnacle Award 2002 from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

In May 2010, Remi was named Business Personality by the Chamber of Commerce of Ville Saint-Laurent.

Remi has led the Virage Simulation team until late 2017 and will continue to provide his wealth of knowledge and experience to help ensure our products continue to be delivered to the highest standards.

Pierro Hirsch, Ph.D

Director of Research and Training Program Development

In January 2006, Pierro joined the team at Virage Simulation. Since 1976, he has studied the effects of driver training on driver behavior and crash risk from the multiple perspectives of driver trainer, teacher-trainer, driving school owner, training program developer, corporate consultant, and road safety researcher. Pierro completed his undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley, a Master’s and Doctorate in Public Health at the University of Montréal and his post-doctorate at the HEC Montreal. For his Master’s degree, Pierro studied the ability of professional driving teachers to predict the future behavior of their student drivers. His doctoral research focused on the factors associated with increased crash risk among 1,804 adolescent novice drivers during their first year of unsupervised driving. For his post-doctorate, he developed a driving simulator-based hazard response test.

Pierro has authored many scientific publications on road safety and the use of driving simulation in driver training and evaluation. In 2017, he and his team of university collaborators won the Deborah Freund Paper Award from the Truck and Bus Safety Committee of the Transportation Research Board, National Academy of Sciences, for the article Transfer of Training in Basic Control Skills from a Truck Simulator to a Real Truck. He regularly presents the results of his research at academic and professional conferences. He is a Board Member of the Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals (CARSP) and a Member of the Committee on Operator Education and Regulation, ANB30, and the Standing Committee on Simulation and Measurement of Vehicle and Operator Performance, AND30, at the Transportation Research Board, Washington D.C. He is now applying his experience, knowledge, insight and passion for road safety towards the development of driving-simulator training and evaluation scenarios and programs.

Stephane Desrosiers

Manager of Software Development – IT Analyst

Graduate of the University of Quebec in computer science, Stéphane is the first full-time employee at Virage Simulation. Stéphane’s team is responsible for the development of software applications and programming training and evaluation scenarios. With his expertise in Artificial Intelligence and programming, he is leading the development of sophisticated, interactive training and research scenarios with real-time monitoring and algorithm-based data analysis and reporting.

Francis Lareau

Manager of Integration and Customer Support

Francis has a diploma in Information Technology and Computer Applications and Support from the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu College, graduating in 2009. Before joining the team at Virage Simulation in 2014, he worked for almost two years as a technician in the IT department of the College and for three years as a Programmer Analyst, developing software and providing customer service to aeronautic companies in the automation industry world-wide. Francis is now applying his excellent analytic and communications skills to driver-training program development and customer support at Virage Simulation.