Helmer Strik

Helmer Strik (full name: Wilhelmus Albertus Johannes Strik) is a Dutch language and speech scientist and associate professor at Radboud University . He serves as Chair of the Special Interest Group on Speech and Language Technology in Education (SLaTE) of the International Speech Communication Association (ISCA) and is co-founder of the educational technology company NovoLanguage.

Career Strik is an associate professor at the Centre for Language and Speech Technology (CLST) at Radboud University in Nijmegen . NovoLanguage's technology has been integrated into educational tools, such as the Automatic Speech Recognition based Reading Tutor system of publisher Zwijsen, which is used in primary schools across the Netherlands

Research and impact Strik's research focuses on computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT), automatic speech recognition for language learning, and speech technology applications in education. His work addresses the development of intelligent tutoring systems that provide automated feedback to language learners.

His research has led to practical applications including the DART (Dutch ASR-based Reading Tutor) system, the first reading tutor with automatic speech recognition developed for Dutch that provides instant feedback while practicing decoding skills. As of 2023, between 1,200 and 1,400 students use the Reading Tutor daily, generating approximately 60,000 recordings per day. The project is part of the NWO Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) programme 'Access to care in the living environment'.

Selected recognition Co-founder of NovoLanguage, named "Gelderse Start Up van het jaar" (2015)