David May (computer scientist)
Michael David May (born February 24, 1951 in Holmfirth , Yorkshire ) is a British computer scientist . He is Professor of Computer Science at the University of Bristol , and Founder and CTO of XMOS Semiconductor .
Life
May attended Queen Elizabeth High School in Wakefield . From 1969 to 1972 he studied mathematics and later computer science at King's College of the University of Cambridge . After completing his studies, he went to the University of Warwick , where he did research in the field of robotics . To study sensory control systems, he developed EPL, an early parallel programming language that was implemented on a cluster of serially connected single-board computers . Through the work he made the acquaintance of Inmos founders Tony Hoare and Iann Barron. When Inmos was founded in 1978, May moved to this company to work in the field of microprocessor architecture.
In 1995 he became Professor of Computer Science at the University of Bristol and from 1995 to 2006 he was Head of the Department of Computer Science. In addition to his work as a professor, he is Chief Technical Officer at XMOS Semiconductor.
May is married and lives in Bristol with his wife . The couple has three sons.
Services
May was the leading developer of the Transputer as well as the developer of the Occam programming language . Working with Tony Hoare and the University of Oxford's Programming Research Group , May developed one of the first techniques for formal verification of microprocessor design. He also holds 34 patents in the field of microelectronics (as of 2007).
May's law
May made the following assertion: "Software efficiency halves every 18 months, compensating Moore's Law" (the efficiency of software halves every 18 months and thus compensates for Moore's law ).
Awards
In 1990 May received an honorary doctorate from the University of Southampton . The Royal Society accepted him as a member in 1991, and in 1992 he was awarded the Patterson Medal of the Institute of Physics .
Web links
- Website of David May (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | May, David |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | May, Michael David (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British computer scientist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 24, 1951 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Holmfirth |