Adrian Bowyer
Adrian Bowyer | |
---|---|
Adrian Bowyer in 2008. | |
Born |
1952 London |
Nationality | English |
Citizenship | United Kingdom |
Alma mater | Imperial College London |
Known for | RepRap, Voronoi Diagram |
Website |
adrianbowyer |
Adrian Bowyer /ˈboʊjər/ is an English engineer and mathematician, formerly an academic at the University of Bath.
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Born in 1952 in London, Bowyer is the older child of the late Rosemary and John Bowyer; the latter was a writer, painter and one of the founders of Zisman, Bowyer and Partners, consulting engineers. Bowyer was educated at Woodroffe School,[1] Lyme Regis and Imperial College London.
In 1977 he joined the Mathematics Department at the University of Bath. Shortly after that he received a doctorate from Imperial College London for research in friction-induced vibration. Whilst working in the Mathematics Department he invented (at the same time as David Watson) the algorithm for computing Voronoi diagrams that bears their names (the Bowyer–Watson algorithm).
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He then spent twenty-two years as a lecturer then senior lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Bath. He retired from academic life in 2012, though he is still a director of the company RepRap Ltd[2] He invented the RepRap Project – an open-source self-replicating 3D printer. The Guardian said of this, "[RepRap] has been called the invention that will bring down global capitalism, start a second industrial revolution and save the environment..."[3]
He is married to a retired schoolmistress. He and his wife have one adult daughter.
References
- ↑ http://www.woodroffe.dorset.sch.uk/ Woodroffe School
- ↑ http://reprapltd.com RepRap Ltd
- ↑ Put your feet up, Santa, the Christmas machine has arrived, James Randerson at The Guardian, 25 November 2006.
External links
- Adrian Bowyer's home page
- RepRapLtd.com
- Wealth Without Money, Adrian Bowyer at Medialab-Prado