Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

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About Us

Awards: 2009 Circle of Honour Recipients

Fraser Shein

Education

Fraser Shein is a Scientist at the Bloorview Research Institute and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. Fraser has made exceptional contributions to the education field through careful applications of science and technology that have been integrated in classrooms worldwide.

Fraser Shein

Fraser is renowned internationally for his contributions to the development of software tools that assist people with disabilities that affect their ability to communicate. Fraser has successfully commercialized several software products including WiViK, an on-screen keyboard that helps individuals of all ages who are unable to use a physical keyboard, WordQ, a special education writing tool that utilizes word prediction, speech output, as well as speech recognition software called SpeakQ. WordQ alone is used by over 200,000 students.

Through his extraordinary efforts, Fraser has developed an outstanding multidisciplinary team that works to ensure that the products they develop are made available internationally in multiple languages.

In addition to his work at Bloorview, Fraser is President and CEO of Quillsoft Ltd., a company started in 2000 in partnership with Bloorview.

Robert Ronstadt states, “as a former Vice President in charge of technology commercialization at Boston University, I can attest to the great challenges faced by faculty who decide to take products from lab to market. It’s not an easy journey, yet it’s one that Fraser has taken for the betterment of society. I especially applaud Fraser’s ability to design easy-to-use products that address fundamental learning issues, and also that he has used knowledge gained in the marketplace to further enrich research and educational programs at the university level.”