Professor Stephen Furber CBE FREng FRS

Steve Furber is a mathematician and engineer, revered for his fundamental contributions to electronic systems. He is known for his design of microprocessors, which control all electronic devices. His work has infinite applications, including controlling household appliances, medical devices such as pacemakers and military equipment.

Steve was the original designer of the ARM processor, the world’s leading embedded processor core — bringing success to the United Kingdom in terms of engineering prestige and commercial value. His work assisted the recent explosion in wireless devices that use low-power microprocessors.

His latest project is SpiNNaker — a computer that mimics the structure of the human brain. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the IEEE, the BCS and the IET, and has won numerous awards, including the IET Faraday Medal in 2007. In 2014, he became a Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society, joining Bill Gates, Tim Berners Lee and other preeminent pioneers of technology.

Professional position

  • ICL Professor of Computer Engineering, School of Computer Science, University of Manchester

Subject groups

  • Engineering and Materials Science

    Computer engineering (including software), Engineering, electronics

Awards

  • Royal Society Mullard Award

    Jointly awarded to Professor Stephen Furber and Ms Sophie Wilson for their distinguished contributions to the design and analysis of the Acorn RISC Machine (ARM), the most successful embedded processor architecture in the world.

Committees Participated Role
Sectional Committee 0: Computer sciences October 2024 - September 2027 Member
Research Grants Committee: Physical Sciences January 2021 - December 2026 Member
Sectional Committee 0: Computer sciences November 2018 - October 2020 Chair
Sectional Committee 4: Engineering December 2016 - November 2018 Member
Hooke Committee January 2016 - December 2018 Member
Milner Award Committee January 2015 - December 2017 Member
Doctoral Students’ Career Expectations Steering Group January 2015 - December 2015 Member
Nominations Committee June 2012 - December 2016 Member
Hooke Committee January 2008 - December 2010 Member
Sectional Committee 4: Engineering December 2006 - November 2009 Chair