Bio / CV

Olivier St-Cyr

BA (2000) York, MASc (2002) Waterloo, PhD (2006) Toronto, LEL

Olivier St-Cyr is an Associate Professor, Teaching Stream and the Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning at the Faculty of Information (iSchool) and a cross-appointed professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto.

Since joining the Faculty of Information in 2016, Olivier has been working on designing and deploying the User Experience Design (UXD) Concentration curriculum of the Master of Information (MI) degree. As part of deploying this curriculum, Olivier designed and oversaw construction of two novel studio classrooms in the Claude T. Bissell Building, home of the Faculty of Information. These spaces allow professors at the Faculty to teach active learning and technology enhanced courses and introduce studio pedagogy in their classes. These learning spaces have transformed teaching and learning at the iSchool and have become models for active learning classrooms across the University.

Olivier serves in leadership roles on academic and professional committees related to teaching and learning. He is the co-founder of EduCHI, an international community of practice of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) educators. EduCHI is a part of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). It has seen steady growth in the past eight years. Every year, EduCHI symposia feature paper presentations on HCI education trends, curricula, pedagogies, teaching practices, and diverse and inclusive HCI education. Olivier is also a member of the ACM Education Advisory Committee, representing the Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI). He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of ACM EngageCSEdu, a peer-reviewed repository of Open Educational Resources (OERs) that foreground evidence-based engagement practices and broaden participation in computing

Olivier’s research interests are in the areas of HCI/UXD pedagogy and education, User Interface (UI) Design, Human Factors for safety critical systems, and cognitive work analysis.

He is one of five recipients of the 2026 University of Toronto President’s Teaching Award, one of four recipients of the 2020/21 University of Toronto Cheryl Regehr Early Career Teaching Award, and the 2016/17 recipient of the Faculty of Information Master of Information Student Council (MISC) Outstanding Instructor Award.

Prior to joining the Faculty of Information, he taught several courses as a sessional lecturer in the areas of Computer Programming, UI/UX, HCI, and Human Factors Engineering (HFE). He also spent eight years working in industry on HCI related projects in organizations such as the University Health Network (UHN), IBM Canada Limited, and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL).

Olivier received a Honours BA in Computer Science and Psychology from York University, a MASc in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo, and a PhD in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto. All degrees have a specialty in HFE/HCI. He is a Limited Engineering Licensee (LEL) of Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO).

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