Michel Delfour is a Guggenheim, Killam, and SIAM Fellow and was awarded the Urgel-Archambault Prize for Physics, Mathematics, and Engineering from ACFAS. His research interests are: optimization and design of shapes and geometries, analysis and control of ordinary, delay, and partial differential systems, control and stabilization of large space structures, numerical methods in differential equations and optimization. His recent interests include the frequency assignment methods to land mobiles, the modelling and control of thin and asymptotic shells, the design of endoprotheses in interventional cardiology, and the design of the dynamics of drug release. He is the author of 13 books and more than 175 papers.

He has been president of the Canadian Mathematical Society and has served on numerous Canadian granting and advisory committees, as well as on panels,  boards, and executive committees of international organizations. He has been a professional engineer (Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec) since 1966 and has been involved in numerous consulting activities for Canadian organizations.