2000s Archives - Page 9 of 21 - Archives of IT

Professor Danielle George

As a child, Professor Danielle George always loved asking “why?” and exploring how technology can deliver answers. On her Commodore 64 computer, she says, “I was much more a programmer than a gamer.”

She was also fascinated by space, waking in the small hours to watch lunar eclipses with the telescope her parents gave her aged eight. A maths teacher at her comprehensive school provided further inspiration with his university astrophysics books. Reading them filled her with awe, she recalls.

At university, she shunned the data-driven world of traditional astrophysics, in favour of radio astronomy. “I had always preferred the practical side of maths and physics,” she says, “and I felt I needed to use my hands.” Her work on the unmanned satellite project at Jodrell Bank became her doctorate.

Now Professor of Radio Frequency Engineering and Associate Vice President at the University of Manchester, Professor George’s research is dedicated to solving one the 14 world engineering grand challenges of the 21st century — engineering the tools of scientific discovery.

She loves teaching, which she says always brings “fire in my belly,” although doesn’t have much time for it with her present responsibilities. She is the current president of the Institute of Engineering and Technology — only the second woman to hold the post. An outstanding role model for women in science and technology, she is passionate about raising public awareness of the positive impact of STEM subjects on all aspects of our lives.

Andy Phillipps

Andy Phillipps was co-founder of Active Hotels in 1999, a start-up which became the largest online booking company in Europe. Since then, he has become an angel investor, with many successful ventures and exits and has taught at Insead, the London Business School and Stanford.

Originally a material scientist with a PhD, and evidently formidably bright, Andy shares insights in a modest and charming style, addressing how to select investment opportunities, what CEO’s need from their angels and the difference between making decisions in science and business.

Sean Finnan

Sean Finnan, the son of a welder and a factory worker, joined the IT industry by answering an advert in the company where he was working as a cleaner. He got into IT at a subsidiary of General Motors whose IT operations was taken over by EDS, the Dallas-based outsourcing company. He rose after 12 years cycling through jobs in EDS which gave him a broad view of IT and its management.

EDS was taken over by Hewlett-Packard from which he left to join IBM. This experience gives him an interesting view of the different cultures of IT companies. He now supports companies trying to help them scale up.

Gary Turner

It was the “catastrophic” failure of his parents’ business in Glasgow when he was just leaving school that triggered Gary Turner’s lifelong drive and passion for helping small enterprises succeed. Forced to abandon his university aspirations, he had always wanted to work in computing, and a sympathetic recruitment consultant helped him get his first job.

Gary’s ability to empathise with customer problems helped him rise through the IT industry to senior positions at Pegasus, Microsoft and Systems Union. Then, in 2009, he took a step which he says “must have looked crazy”, becoming co-founder of Xero, a three-person accounting software start-up.

It proved an excellent move. As Xero’s UK managing director, Gary grew the business to a turnover of £110M by 2020, with more than 600,000 UK customers. He has also served as a mentor at TechStars London and is a seed investor in early-stage start-ups across the UK and Europe.

Paul Excell

Paul Excell’s first job was working in his family’s village shop; he has gone on to become an entrepreneur, investor, NED, executive coach and eminent figure in the telecommunications industry. His father taught him crucial business lessons, such as having empathy with customers, being curious about their needs and understanding how you can help them rather than focusing on selling.

State educated, Paul gained much of his drive and inspiration from “fantastic” teachers in topics ranging from maths, physics and computer science to history. People who bridge the science / arts divide will be increasingly important as technology develops, he says.

Following BT sponsorship through university, Paul became an apprentice technician and rose steadily eventually to become a pioneering Chief Customer Innovation Officer, Group Technology Officer and SVP Global Services. While at BT he fulfilled his passion for innovation, launching internet, broadband, mobile and media services and serving on several of the group’s global boards. ”If you don’t innovate, you die,” he says.

After leaving BT in 2012, Paul founded Excelerate, which provides agile executive services focused on transforming leadership and team performance. In 2016 he established ScaleUp Group, which aims to support the many smaller UK companies which he says have potential for “massive impact” and growth. So far it has raised more than £30m and generated some £4bn in enterprise value.

Richard Little

Richard Little is a serial angel investor who learned to be an entrepreneur by watching his father and trained for a life in technology by studying languages. Richard built and successfully exited his own business in the 1980’s and 90’s, applying cheaper new technology in financial services. His first big idea failed but the second one worked, and he says that is not a bad formula for building a business.

In the 21st century he has turned his hand to helping others’ companies grow by leveraging investment with his acquired expertise. Richard believes that helping small companies grow is good for the economy and society, as well as being a rewarding occupation. His current portfolio includes Cloud, AI and EdTech.

Professor Tom Crick MBE

Professor Tom Crick is a computer scientist who brings his knowledge to bear on the big questions for Wales of education and industrial policy, including intelligent systems, smart cities, digital transformation, skills and infrastructure. Tom’s generation was the first to have university education and he credits his secondary school and teachers with his stimulating his interest in technology.

He was at the heart of reform of the computing curriculum in schools and was appointed MBE in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours for “services to computer science and the promotion of computer science education”. He believes it is important that the pioneering role of the UK and its scientists in the IT industry is understood.

Dr Steve Garnett

Dr Steve Garnett is the son of a Liverpool docker and a cleaner. A maths teacher inspired a love of maths and started a career out of Liverpool. He earned his doctorate in theoretical physics and decided to become a programmer. He worked at Logica, then contributed though technical and then executive posts to the growth of Oracle, Siebel and Salesforce.com, helping each to become the success they were. He is now an advocate of software as a service: software in the cloud rented by users which puts the customer back in charge.

Professor John Tucker

Professor John Tucker is one of the select few academic computer scientists who are also passionate about the history of computing; being a noted authority on both. After studying maths at the newly opened University of Warwick in the ‘70’s John was captivated by interests in mathematical logic and computability and pursued studies in the UK and internationally before returning to Wales.

At Swansea, his course on the history of computing teaches undergraduate students the skills essential to the workplace, of how to learn about and communicate on unfamiliar subjects. Furthermore, it extends our understanding of “invention and innovation in Computing” and nurtures his fascination for the subject. He has expanded his work to include the collection of hardware and documents in the Swansea Computing Collection and the study of the role of science and technology in the industry and society of South Wales.

Dr Timothy Walker CB

Dr Timothy Walker managed the Alvey Programme from 1987 to 89, which researched advanced computing technologies. Alvey paralleled Japan’s 5th Generation project and aimed to improve the UK’s performance / competitiveness in Information Technology.

Dr Walker was a formidable academic over-achiever in his formative years. After an early spell in university teaching and research he held top level posts, managing transformation in areas such as Industry (Alvey), Nuclear Energy and Immigration. He advocates closer working between industry and universities and strong leadership in managing Government driven change.

Since retiring from the Civil Service he has remained busy with voluntary and charitable roles and uncovering local history.