Laurent De Français
About Laurent De Français
Laurent De Français is the Associate Principal and Civil Discipline Leader at Arup in Montreal, Canada, with extensive experience in civil engineering and project management across multiple continents.
Company
Laurent De Français currently holds the position of Associate Principal, Civil Discipline Leader at Arup. Based in the Montreal, Canada Area, De Français has been with Arup since 2019, where he leads the team responsible for the development and execution of infrastructure and civil engineering projects.
Title
As Associate Principal, Civil Discipline Leader at Arup, Laurent De Français leads initiatives in business development, feasibility studies, and independent certifier mandates. He drives the Montreal team's efforts in infrastructure and civil projects.
Education and Expertise
Laurent De Français holds a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) in Finance from EMLYON Business School, which he completed in 1994. He also has a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Ecole nationale d'Ingénieurs de Saint-Etienne, obtained in 1970. His expertise spans across various domains, including design-build and design-build-finance-operations-maintenance (DBFOM) projects.
Professional Background
Laurent De Français has held several high-profile positions across renowned engineering firms. Before joining Arup, he served as Vice President, Engineering, Project Services at Astaldi from 2017 to 2019. Prior to that, he was Director of the Rail & Mass Transit Division in Canada at WSP from 2016 to 2017. Between 2004 and 2016, he held multiple Vice President roles at SNC-Lavalin, overseeing operations, strategy, and major projects in transport systems. Earlier in his career, De Français was Operations Director and Project Director at VINCI Construction France.
Achievements
Throughout his extensive career, Laurent De Français has played key roles in various international projects across Europe, Africa, South America, and the Middle East. He has successfully built and led teams through all project phases, from bidding to execution. Notably, he has been instrumental in establishing groups at SNC-Lavalin and WSP that specialize in feasibility studies, detailed engineering design, EPCM, and master services agreements.