Albert Cook, PhD

Founder, AT Lab

Professor Emeritis, Speech Pathology & Audiology
3-79, Corbett Hall, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2G4
al.cook@ualberta.ca

Current Position
Dr. Cook is currently retired. Prior to February 2014, he was a Professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology and Special Advisor to the Provost at the University of Alberta. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine from 1994 to 2007, and Chair of the Health Sciences Council from 2000-2007.

Special Achievement and Awards
Dr. Cook is a member of Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi and Gold Key honorary societies. He is Past-President and Fellow of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA), a major professional society for assistive technology practitioners in North America.

Research Interests
Dr. Cook's research interests include augmentative and alternative communication, biomedical instrumentation and assistive technology design, development and evaluation. His most recent research has focused on the use of robotics with young children who have severe disabilities to develop and assess cognitive and linguistic skills.

Educational Background
He received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering at the University of Colorado, a Masters in Bioengineering and his doctorate from the University of Wyoming.

Clinical Expertise
Dr. Cook has worked with interdisciplinary teams to develop assistive devices. He was associated with the I CAN Centre at the Glenrose Hospital and has also served as Co-Director of the Assistive Device Center at California State University, Sacramento, helping over 500 persons with disabilities to identify and obtain assistive technologies.

Community Involvement
He has also served in national United States positions in the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, the American Society for Engineering Education, the Biomedical Engineering Society, the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation. Dr. Cook is a registered professional engineer (electrical) in California. In 2008, he was appointed by the Minister of Seniors and Community Supports to the Seniors Advisory Council for Alberta. He has been invited as a keynote speaker to many international conferences on assistive technology.

Publications
Dr. Cook co-authored with Janice Polgar, OTR, Cook and Hussey's Assistive Technologies: Principles and Practice 3rd edition, published in October 2007 by Elsevier. He has co-edited three other textbooks with John Webster and others and has written numerous chapters in rehabilitation and biomedical engineering texts, monographs, peer reviewed papers and conference proceedings.