Prof David May

David May graduated in Computer Science from Cambridge University in 1972 and then moved to Warwick University and worked on computer architectures for to Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. In 1979 he joined start-up microelectronics company Inmos becoming the chief architect of the Inmos transputer; the transputer was the first microcomputer designed to support parallel and distributed computing. After 16 years in the microelectronics industry, David joined Bristol University in 1995 as Head of Computer Science. He introduced new degree programmes that include design, team-work and entrepreneurial activity; this led to several student start-ups. At the same time, he continued an active involvement with Bristol’s growing microelectronics cluster and its investors; he has acted both as a non-executive Director and as a Technical Advisor to several companies. He has also acted as an Expert Witness in Intellectual Property litigation. In 2005, he co-founded XMOS and became its Chief Technology Officer. His recent work includes the development of Bristol’s Innovation degrees that enable students to combine an academic specialism with learning about design and enterprise - how to change the world! David has 50 granted patents and over 100 publications; his microprocessor designs have been included in many different products. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1990 for his contributions to computer architecture and parallel computing, and a Fellow of the UK Royal Academy of Engineering in 2010.