Martin Smith (academic)
Martin Smith was born and studied in London, UK and is Professor of Robotics at Middlesex University in north London. He is also President of the Cybernetics Society in the UK. He has held posts as Visiting Research Professor in Robotics at the Open University, Professor at the University of Central England (in Birmingham, UK) and at the University of East London (UK) where he was founder and Head of the Mobile Robots Research Unit.
He has appeared on over 300 TV programmes, including: as a Technical Presenter on the BBC television programme Techno Games and as a judge on Robot Wars. He was a judge and programme consultant on Channel 4's Scrapheap Challenge and technical presenter on Granada TV's Mutant Machines. He has also appeared on Tomorrow's World, Tomorrow's World Live at the NEC, and the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures series entitled 'The Rise of Robots'.
He is a member of the Editorial Boards of: Kybernetes - The International Journal of Cybernetics & Systems, The International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems, The International Journal of Applied Systemic Studies, the International Journal of General Systems, and The International Journal of Social Robotics. He is a Director of the World Organisation of Systems and Cybernetics, and a former Registrant on the UK Register of Expert Witnesses.
He is a Chartered Physicist, a Chartered Engineer, a European Engineer (Eur. Ing), a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management, a Fellow of the Cybernetics Society, and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (USA). He is a member of the Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation of Behaviour. He is a past member of the Lunar Society, and a former Fellow of the Royal Institution.
He presented his Silvanus P. Thompson lecture "Homo Sapiens to Robo Sapiens - the Future of Artificial Life, Robots and Humans" to 45 IEE (Institution of Electrical Engineers), (now the IET the Institution of Engineering and Technology) centres in the UK, Eire, The Hague (Netherlands), and at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva.
He was awarded Freedom of the City of London, and was awarded the Public Awareness of Physics Award, by the Institute of Physics.
He was a Member of Council of the IEE for six years, Chairman of the IEE London Centre, Chairman of the Engineering Council London Regional Organisation; representing London's 7,200 Registered Engineers, and a member of the Engineering Council Standing Committee for the Regions and Assembly.
Robot projects he has led have been demonstrated to: HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, the House of Commons, the Science Museum, London, the Launch of the Year of Engineering Success, the Think Tank at Birmingham, and "Roboshop" Imperial College.
He was awarded the contract to develop three educational robots to go into schools to inspire primary school children to learn about waste reduction, re-use and recycling for the educational charity Waste Watch which is part of the Keep Britain Tidy campaign. The robot campaign started in 1994 and continues to run (as of December 2014). The robots have performed in thousands of schools and have been seen by over two million children over the twenty-year period. It is believed that this is the largest programme of interaction between primary school children and robots in the world.[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7].
He has acted as Expert Commentator for BBC2 TV News and Sky News. He was a monthly feature page writer for a popular high street robotics magazine and has written articles for magazines and newspapers. He regularly provides answers to science questions on James O'Brien's Mystery Hour which is broadcast nationally live on LBC on Thursday's from 12:00 to 1:00.
He has been an invited speaker for: the Cardiff Scientific Society, the RoboCup National competition finals, the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, the Think Tank at Birmingham, IEE Setpoint, the Institute of Physics, the Hampstead Scientific Society, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Robotix 97 Glasgow. He was awarded the 2004 IEE/RAeS/IMechE Sir Isaac Newton annual prestige lectureship. He was a member of the debating panel in the King's College London 175th anniversary debate presenting his view in opposition to the view presented by the Rev. Dr. John Polkinghorne KBE FRS.
Martin married Mary in 1976. They moved from west to east London. Mary died of cancer in 2014. She left no parents, siblings or children.[8].
References
1. The Development and Effectiveness of the Cycler Educational Presentation Robots. (with David Buckley). Proceedings of the Symposium on Robotics, Mechatronics and Animatronics in the Creative and Entertainment Industries and the Arts. Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour (AISB) Convention, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK. April 2005. 22-26.
2. http://www.wastewatch.org.uk/pages/interactive-theatre-shows.html
3. http://www.eco-schools.org.uk/schoolservices/Interactivetheatreshows
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHGNl_9r7YY
5. http://www.wastewatch.org.uk/data/files/resources/125/Interactive-Theatre-shows.pdf
6. http://www.eco-schools.org.uk/AssetLibraryFiles/RecyclerWorkshopProgramme_1241.pdf
7. http://www.eco-schools.org.uk/newsevents?id=600
External links
- Middlesex University Staff Member Profile
- Biography - the Cybernetics Society
- robot.org.uk - Martin Smith's website
- Kybernetes Editorial Team
- International journal of Advanced Robotic Systems
- Newspaper article for the Daily Telegraph
- Biographical Profile