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David Edwin Potter CBE FREng (born 1943) is the founder and chairman of the microcomputer systems company Psion PLC., and Psion Teklogix after Psion's acquisition of Teklogix in the year 2000.
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David Edwin Potter CBE FREng (born 1943) is the founder and chairman of the microcomputer systems company Psion PLC., and Psion Teklogix after Psion's acquisition of Teklogix in the year 2000.
Potter was born in East London, South Africa, in 1943 and brought up in Cape Town. In 1963 he took up a Beit scholarship to read natural sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1966 he was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to study for a doctorate in mathematical physics at Imperial College London, where he was subsequently appointed to the staff. As an academic during the 1970s, he taught at the University of London and at the University of California, consulted and wrote a number of academic papers and a book on the use of computers in physics.
Potter founded Psion in 1980. In its early years, Psion became a leader in software for home microcomputers. In 1984, Psion invented 'The Organizer', the world's first volume hand-held computer for personal use and information.
In 1988, Potter led Psion's flotation on the London Stock Exchange, which saw Psion's scale and value multiply many times. The company expanded further into data communications and mobile corporate solutions.[ buzzword ] In 1998, using Psion's experience in small mobile operating systems, Potter led the creation of Symbian Limited in partnership with Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola and Matsushita to create the operating system standard for mobile wireless devices – now known as Symbian.
In 1999, Potter stood down as chief executive of the company and assumed the role of chairman. He retired as chairman in September 2009. [1]
Potter has been a member of the London Regional Council of the CBI, a board member of the London First Centre and co-chairman of the London Manufacturing Group. From 1999 to 2003 he was a member of The Council for Science and Technology reporting to the Cabinet.
Potter served on the 1997 National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education (The Dearing Committee), and continued his involvement in higher education policy as a board member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England. He has also had extensive involvement with educational establishments as a Visiting Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford, Honorary Fellow of Imperial College, London, and Honorary Fellow and Governor of the London Business School.
In 1993, Potter received the Mountbatten Medal from the Institution of Electrical Engineers and has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from a number of universities including Warwick, Sheffield, Edinburgh and York.
He has written and lectured widely on technology and the new economy, including the Stockton Lecture at London Business School in 1998, one of the Millennium Lectures at 10 Downing Street in 1999, and the Tacitus Lecture, 2000 at the Guildhall.
He is also a former donor to the Labour Party. [2]
In September 2017, he was appointed Honorary Chairman of Planet Computers, a crowd-funded start-up producing the Gemini (PDA), a spiritual successor to the Psion Series 5. [3] [4]
In the 1997 New Year's Honours list, Potter was appointed a CBE for services to the manufacturing industry [5] and in 2001 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineers. In 1999, he was chosen as Entrepreneur of the Year in the annual UK PLC Awards. In June 2003, Potter was appointed a non-Executive Director to the Bank of England, stepping down in 2009.[ citation needed ]
David Potter is married to journalist and writer Elaine Potter and they have three sons.[ citation needed ] His interests include his family, education, farming, golf, music, bridge, reading and ideas, science and economics and tennis. [6] With their involvement in education and the developing world, the family created the David and Elaine Potter Foundation [7] [8] to support projects in education, research and third world development.
Psion PLC was a designer and manufacturer of mobile handheld computers for commercial and industrial uses. The company was headquartered in London, England, with major operations in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and other company offices in Europe, the United States, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. It was a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Symbian Ltd. was a software development and licensing consortium company, known for the Symbian operating system (OS), for smartphones and some related devices. Its headquarters were in Southwark, London, England, with other offices opened in Cambridge, Sweden, Silicon Valley, Japan, India, China, South Korea, and Australia.
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Timothy Francis Clement-Jones, Baron Clement-Jones, is a Liberal Democrat Peer and spokesman for the digital economy in the House of Lords.
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Martyn Thomas CBE FREng FIET FRSA is a British independent consultant and software engineer.
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Psion Teklogix Inc. was the operational business of Psion.
Teklogix International Inc., or Teklogix, was a tech company founded in 1967 by engineers working at Ferranti-Packard. The company focused on mini computer applications. It designed and built complete systems based upon DEC's PDP-8 computer, DEC's logic modules and purpose built logic. Many of the company's projects involved control of material handling systems and this led to the development of radio linked terminals for installation on fork lift trucks complete with multiplexers to interface to a variety of main frame computer systems.
Rod Coutts is a Canadian entrepreneur and a co-founder of Teklogix International. He was born in Cookstown, Ontario. Coutts graduated from University of Waterloo in 1964 with a Bachelor of Applied Science Degree in Electrical Engineering.
In 2000, Coutts donated an estimated $7 million in shares to the University of Waterloo, as his tribute to the school.
"My family has had a lot of good fortune over the years and the University of Waterloo had a lot to do with that," says Coutts. "This is my chance to give something back."
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Sir David Evan Naunton Davies is a British electrical engineer and educator, knighted for services to science and technology in the 1994 New Year Honours.
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EPOC is a mobile operating system developed by Psion, a British company founded in 1980. It began as a 16-bit operating system (OS) for Psion's own x86-compatible devices, and was later replaced by a 32-bit system for x86 and ARM. Psion licensed the 32-bit system to other hardware makers, such as Ericsson.
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Graham John Zellick is a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of London, serving from 1997–2003 and previously Principal of Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, from 1991–98.
[...] from their charitable David and Elaine Potter Foundation.
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