Bill Shaw

Bill Shaw was born near Hespeler (Cambridge) in 1928. He attended Galt Collegiate Institute and in 1951 he graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and Business. He received an MBA from McMaster University in 1966.

Shaw worked for Ford Motor Company in Windsor and then worked in product development for CCM in Toronto.

In 1968 Shaw joined Multiscreen Corporation (now Imax Corporation) to design and develop the IMAX Projection System. This revolutionary technology allows a film to be projected onto a massive screen and makes the viewer feel that they are part of the action. The first public IMAX showing was at EXPO 70 in Osaka, Japan. This installation led to the first permanent IMAX theatre at the Cinesphere at Ontario Place, Toronto in 1971. There are now over 225 IMAX theatres in over thirty countries around the world. Over 180 IMAX films take the viewer to interesting places like outer space, to the top of Mount Everest, to the bottom of the Atlantic, and to the wreck of RMS Titanic.

In 1986 Shaw accepted a Scientific and Technical Achievement award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science (which was upgraded to an Oscar in 1996). He received the Leonardo da Vinci Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the John Grierson International Gold Medal from the Society of Motion Picture Television Engineers and an engineering medal from the association of Professional Engineers of Ontario. The IMAX Founder’s Award for major contributions to the 15 perf/70 mm giant screen industry was presented posthumously.

While working at IMAX Corporation, Shaw lived in Streetsville, Ontario. In 1994 he moved back to Cambridge for five years, and then settled in Dorset (near Huntsville). Shaw was always active in his communities, most notably in his church St. Andrew’s Presbyterian (Streetsville and Huntsville), Streetsville Musicorp’s JUSTUS, and the Huntsville Community Choir. He engineered the restoration and expansion of both churches. Four university scholarship funds were set up by Shaw at the University of Toronto to encourage future Canadian engineering successes. In addition to his singing, Shaw was interested in boats, engines, motorcycles, skiing and curling