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Hermann Hauser | |
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.jpg) Hauser in 2010 | |
| Born | Hermann Maria Hauser (1948-10-23)23 October 1948 (age 77)[6][7] Vienna, Austria |
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| Spouse | Pamela Raspe[9] |
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| Scientific career | |
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| Thesis | Mechanically Activated Chemical Reactions (1977) |
| Website | www |
Hermann Maria Hauser KBE (born 1948[6]) is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist and inventor who is primarily associated with the Cambridge technology community in England.[10][11][12][13][14]
When Hauser was 16 he went to the United Kingdom to learn English at a language school inCambridge.[15] After a master's degree in physics fromVienna University,[6] he returned toKing's College, Cambridge to do a PhD in physics at theCavendish Laboratory.[6][8]
Hauser is probably best known for his part in setting upAcorn Computers withChris Curry in 1978. WhenOlivetti took control of Acorn in 1985[16] he became vice-president for research at Olivetti, in charge of laboratories in the US and Europe. In 1986, Hauser co-founded theOlivetti Research Laboratory (ORL) in Cambridge withAndy Hopper, who became the laboratory's director. Hauser's role in Acorn was portrayed byEdward Baker-Duly in theBBC dramaMicro Men.[17][18]
In 1988, Hauser left Olivetti to start the Active Book Company, investing £1 million of his own money.[19] The company sought to develop a portable ARM-based microcomputer "the size of a paperback book", featuring a screen and stylus for interaction and employing a "book" metaphor known as Hyperpage.[20] The company planned to launch its first product after Christmas 1990, featuring an approximately A5-sized reflective display, automatic recognition of printed, as opposed to cursive, characters, and employing a multipurpose chip called Hercules featuring a static, low-power ARM core. A licensing agreement had been signed with Acorn for access to that company's hardware and software technology, and the company was seeking application developers for the platform.[21] The Active Book was intended to cost around $2,000, provide eight to ten hours of battery life, and was to run theHelios operating system.[22] Not wanting to repeat the mistakes made by Acorn, which had kept its technology to itself, he demonstrated the Active Book to as many large companies as he could.AT&T Corporation acquired Active Book in July 1991[23][better source needed] and incorporated it into theirEO Personal Communicator, which was released in April 1993.[24] Hauser became chief technical officer and chairman of EO Europe. Sales did not meet expectations, and AT&T's EO subsidiary folded on 29 July 1994.
In 1990, Hauser was involved in spinning outAdvanced RISC Machines (ARM) from Acorn.[25]
In 1993, Hauser set upAdvanced Telecommunication Modules Ltd with Andy Hopper. The company was acquired by Conexant Systems on 1 March 2004. He founded NetChannel Ltd in June 1996 as a holding company to begin work on marketing the NetStation. NetChannel was sold to AOL in 1996.[26] He claimed in the 1990s that the networking technology used forAppleTalk was based on the (unpatented)Cambridge Ring.[27][12]
In 1997 he co-foundedAmadeus Capital Partners Ltd,[28][29] aventure capital company, and in 1998 he co-foundedCambridge Network withDavid Cleevely andAlec Broers.[30]
In 2000,Plastic Logic was founded, with Hauser as chairman.[31]
On 14 June 2001, the Hauser-Raspe Foundation was registered as a charity to advance education, by Hauser and his wife Pamela Raspe.
In August 2004, Amadeus Capital Partners led the Series Bventure capital financing of Solexa, and Hauser joined its board of directors. Solexa developed a next-generationDNA sequencing technology which became the market leader; the company was sold toIllumina, Inc of San Diego in January 2007 for over $US600 million. In 2009, Hauser was announced as the first customer of the Illumina Personal Genome Sequencing service.[32]
As of 2009, Hauser is the head of the East Anglia Stem Cell research network.
Hauser is anon-executive director ofCambridge Display Technology, a non-executive director ofXMOS[33] Ltd and a member of the board of Red-M (Communications) Ltd. He holds honorary doctorates from the Universities ofBath andLoughborough and fromAnglia Ruskin University. He is a member of the advisory board on the Higher Education Innovation Fund, and of the UK'sCouncil for Science and Technology.
Hauser was commissioned by theDepartment for Business, Innovation and Skills to write a report on technology and innovation in the UK.[34][35] Publication of the report in 2010 led to the establishment ofCatapult centres[36] with £200 million of government funding.[37]
He was co-founder of ARM Holdings, the Cambridge-based microchip manufacturer that was bought in 2016 by Japan's SoftBank.[38]
Since 2015, he is actively supporting Austrian start-ups and technology companies. In particular, he has invested in 2017 in the MEMS-speaker start-up "USound"[39][40] and in eyeson,[41] a cloud basedUnified Communications solution nominated byGartner Inc. asCool Vendor in Unified Communications, 2017.[42][43]
In 2022, he invested in the Munich based quantum computing startup planqc, a spin-off from the renowned Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, and joined the advisory board.[44]
Hauser was voted the UK's "Computer Personality of the Year" of 1984.[45] In 2010,Eureka, in its "100 most important scientists", placed Hauser at 51.[46] He became patron ofThe Centre for Computing History in December 2011, 30 years after the launch of theBBC Micro.[47]
In 2001, Hauser became an Honorary Doctor atAnglia Ruskin University.[48] On 8 July 2002, Hauser was elected a Fellow of theInstitute of Physics (FInstP) and an InternationalFellow[5] of theRoyal Academy of Engineering[5] (FREng). In May 2004 he presented the prestigious IEEPinkerton Lecture. In 2005, Hauser received aLifetime Achievement Award for his work as a venture capitalist and entrepreneur.[49] The award was presented at the annual European Electronics Industry Awards in London.[50] Hauser was awarded an HonoraryCBE for "innovative service to the UK enterprise sector" in 2001.[51] In 1998, Hauser was elected into an honorary fellowship ofHughes Hall, Cambridge, and he was also elected into an honorary fellowship ofKing's College, Cambridge with effect from 1 January 2000. In the same year he was awarded theMountbatten Medal.[52]
Hauser was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Society (FRS) in 2012.[4] His nomination reads:
Distinguished as a science-based innovator and serial-entrepreneur whose ventures have been at the forefront of UK innovation. A major contributor to the global technology and growth agendas and an influential member of senior policy making bodies. An inspiration and role-model for generations of entrepreneurs who has been directly involved in many companies, providing enthusiasm, mentoring, and financing leading to technology based wealth creation at scale.[3]
Hauser was elected a Distinguished Fellow of theBritish Computer Society (DFBCS) in 2013 recognising his contribution to computing science in the UK.[53]
[...] the kingpin of the high-tech cluster, dubbed Silicon Fen [...]
[...] Herman Hauser, chairman of Plastic Logic [...]
In 51st is entrepreneur and founder of Acorn Computers Hermann Hauser [...]
Dr Hermann Hauser has been named as patron of the new Centre for Computing History in Cambridge UK. [...] agreed to take on the important role 30 years after the company he co-founded – Acorn Computers – unveiled the BBC Micro [...]
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