About Us
Transforming the way the world uses colour
Opalux is a market-leader in stimulus-responsive, colour-changing materials and coatings, based in Toronto, Canada. Co-founded by the award-winning Dr. Andre Arsenault in 2006, Opalux grew out of Andre’s doctorate thesis at the University of Toronto on tunable photonic crystals. Opalux’s mission is to commercialize these novel smart materials to transform the way the world uses colour.
Opalux has become a global leader in personalized and interactive anti-counterfeiting security features, establishing key partnerships with global security printers to develop transformative products for passports, ID cards and banknotes. Opalux is now developing new applications using its broader technology platform including Opal-Detect, Impact, Chameleonix™ and Opal-Protect. These technologies have the potential to creating meaningful and sustainable products that keep people healthy and safe, and enable customized experiences.
Smart Colour
Opalux are pioneers in developing Smart Colour: Colour that conveys information. Opalux’s materials can be applied to almost any surface, and can respond to stimuli as simple as a touch, or as general as an environment. This provides the user both command over colour and an indication of what is going on around them.
Management Team
Allan Firhøj
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DIRECTOR
Allan has over 25 years of experience and has a consistent track record of delivering record growth and profitability by building engaging individuals and teams within company start-ups, companies reigniting growth, mergers, and divestitures. With a deep understanding of critical business drivers in multiple markets and industries, he has been successful in building relationships in high-tech products and services markets with multi-nationals: winning major contracts, integrating market leading products, sales strategies, and marketing.
Dr. André Arsenault
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, DIRECTOR
Dr. André Arsenault is a co-founder of Opalux and leads new and existing product development. Under André’s leadership, Opalux has developed a range of security features and have authored over 15 granted and pending patent families. He earned his Ph.D. degree in polymer and materials chemistry at the University of Toronto. His doctoral dissertation was on tunable photonic crystal materials, the basis of Opalux’s products. Additionally, he co-authored Nanochemistry: A Chemical Approach to Nanomaterials. André is the author of numerous articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and was awarded first prize in NSERC’s Innovation Challenge Award.
Board of Directors
Paul Chan
DIRECTOR
Paul Chan is an entrepreneur with broad interests and a record of success. After completing a B.Sc. in Computer Science at the University of Toronto and an MBA in Finance at York University, Paul applied his skills and enthusiasm at various organizations including TD Bank, General Motors, and Imperial Oil. As an entrepreneur Paul pursued projects of personal and public importance, including property and automotive projects, followed later by the creation of an energy- and cost-efficient housing system. This system has found popularity in Europe, where it continues to be manufactured and sold. Paul is a co-founder and former CEO of Opalux.
Allan Firhøj
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DIRECTOR
Allan has over 25 years of experience and has a consistent track record of delivering record growth and profitability by building engaging individuals and teams within company start-ups, companies reigniting growth, mergers, and divestitures. With a deep understanding of critical business drivers in multiple markets and industries, he has been successful in building relationships in high-tech products and services markets with multi-nationals: winning major contracts, integrating market leading products, sales strategies, and marketing.
Dr. André Arsenault
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, DIRECTOR
Dr. André Arsenault is a co-founder of Opalux and leads new and existing product development. Under André’s leadership, Opalux has developed a range of security features and have authored over 15 granted and pending patent families. He earned his Ph.D. degree in polymer and materials chemistry at the University of Toronto. His doctoral dissertation was on tunable photonic crystal materials, the basis of Opalux’s products. Additionally, he co-authored Nanochemistry: A Chemical Approach to Nanomaterials. André is the author of numerous articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and was awarded first prize in NSERC’s Innovation Challenge Award.
Jeffrey MacIntosh
DIRECTOR
Jeffrey MacIntosh holds the Toronto Stock Exchange Chair in Capital Markets Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, and is a past Associate Director and Director of the Capital Markets Institute at the University of Toronto. Professor MacIntosh is also a Director of the Canadian Securities Exchange. He holds law degrees from Harvard and Toronto, and a B.Sc. degree from M.I.T. Professor MacIntosh, his current research and publications focus on venture capital financing and government policy toward innovation.