Biographical notes

My first degree was in mechanical engineering, as part of a university apprenticeship with Rolls-Royce aero engines in Derby. Afterwards, I went back to Leeds University to take a PhD, working on shape modelling techniques and their application to computer-aided manufacturing, especially NC machining.

In 1978, I became a lecturer in manufacturing engineering at Bath University, continuing to work on CADCAM, but pursuing some unusual applications, including a reconstruction of the Roman Baths in Bath, which had a short moment of glory on the BBC Timewatch programme. Other collaborative projects included a graphics display based on quad-trees, a surface-finishing robot with visual feedback, and a fixturing system based on number theory.

In 1985, I joined the IBM UK Scientific Centre in Winchester, where I continued to work on shape modelling, in a group supporting collaborators with an even wider range of requirements, from biological structures to virtual sculpture. The UKSC's WINSOM modeller won a BCS award in 1988 and in the same year I was appointed Graphics Research Manager, responsible inter alia for the computer sculptor William Latham.

From 1989 to 1991, I was also a visiting professor at Cranfield Institute of Technology.

At the end of 1990, my colleague Adrian Bowyer and I founded Information Geometers. For over ten years we ran courses and conferences, developed software and published books on various aspects of geometric computing.

I edited the journal Computer-Aided Design from 1991 until 2003.

© Copyright John Woodwark 2010