People at Mersivity 2023 December 14th Symposia

He is Professor (Emeritus) of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Washington (UW), Seattle, Washington, USA. He is the founder of the Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HIT Lab) at UW and founder and international director of the HIT Lab NZ at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand and the HIT Lab Australia at the University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania. Prior to joining the faculty at the UW, Tom served a combined 23 years as a U.S. Air Force officer and civilian scientist at the Armstrong Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where he developed advanced cockpits and virtual interfaces for the Department of Defense. He is the author of the Super Cockpit program and served as the Chief of Visual Display Systems and Super Cockpit Director until he joined the University of Washington in 1989.

In 1998 he received the Discover Award for his invention of the virtual retinal display. Tom is co-inventor of the ChromaID technology licensed to Visualant Inc. and received the 2013 SPIE Prism Award for this work.

He received the first "Auggie" lifetime achievement award for his 50-year contribution to the VR and AR Industries. In March 2016 Tom received the IEEE VR Career Award for his lifetime contributions to the fields of virtual and Augmented Reality and in October 2016 the Virtual Reality Foundation of Los Angeles Proto Award also for lifetime achievement. In November 2021 Tom was presented the Accenture Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy of International Extended Reality and Elected to the IEEE VTCG Academy. Most recently in October 2023 Tom was awarded the first Heart for Humanity Award by the Girls S.T.E.A.M. Institute.

He has testified before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, and started 27 companies, two of which are traded on NASDAQ at a market capitalization of > $ 12 B (USD). He is a Fellow of the IEEE and a member of the Computer Society and Photonics Society of the IEEE. He is the founder and chairman of the Virtual World Society, a non-profit for extending virtual reality as a learning system for families and other humanitarian applications.

He is an author and has had several articles published with the National Post on topics such as suicide prevention, accessible mental health care supports and disability awareness. With a background in advertising and a focus on public relations, he has over 15 years of experience in the field of communication.

In 2022, Mike made history becoming the first person to paddle board and the first athlete with physical disabilities to cross each of the 5 Great Lakes, leading a two year national campaign, raising awareness for the youth mental health crisis. His crossings campaign has been recognized by the Ontario Legislative Assembly, the House of Commons and by the Prime Minister of Canada.

He uses his skills and expertise to help individuals and organizations achieve their goals, overcome their challenges, and discover their potential. He is passionate about spreading hope, resilience, and positivity to the world.

His extensive work in mental health advocacy is the subject of Matthew Wagner’s award-winning documentary, ‘When Hope Breaks Through.’

As St. Paul’s School Trustee (2003-2010), he initiated a “Green Grid” project for renewable energy generators (such as solar panels) on school rooftops, homework policy reform, campaigned to keep Toronto’s school pools open, advocated for governance and accountability reform, demanded genuine consultation processes for his community, initiated a “Financial Literacy” curriculum to teach students about matters including credit cards, budgets and the stock market, worked with his community to rebuild North Toronto Collegiate Institute and championed initiatives to curb youth violence.

As a community advocate and city councillor, Josh has fought for the improvement and expansion of local parks and public space, high quality and affordable housing and childcare, tenants who need a strong voice, new aquatic and community centres, evidence-based transit including relief for the overcrowded subway system, support for local business areas, farmers markets and arts and cultural events, revitalization of neighbourhoods, improve the Official Plan to put a focus on residents’ quality of life, a strategic plan for Toronto’s seniors to create an Age-Friendly city, the Youth Equity Strategy to address youth violence at its roots, championed efforts to bring a proactive approach to community safety, advocated for action by the City and police to prevent deaths on our city’s streets, campaigned for solutions to gridlock and has been a leader on governance reform at every level of government. Josh brings a strong, independent and facts-based perspective to every policy debate."