Andrew Herbert
Encyclopedia
Andrew James Herbert OBE
(born 1954) is a British
computer scientist
, formerly Chairman of Microsoft Research
, for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
In 1978 he started working at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
as assistant professor under Maurice Wilkes and Roger Needham
in the Computer Laboratory worked with others on the "Cambridge Model Distributed System". In 1985 he left Cambridge to found his own contract research company (Architecture Projects Ltd - APM Ltd), which led projects to develop ANSA, the Advanced Network Systems Architecture. In 1996 he had founded another sister company called Digitivity to develop a product to enable the secure deployment of Java clients for business-to-business applications. Two years later he joined Citrix Systems Inc. following their acquistion of APM and Digitivity to become Director of Advanced Technology. In 2001 he joined Microsoft Research in Cambridge as an assistant director, and became managing director in April 2003. In 2010 he became chairman of Microsoft Research EMEA. He retired from Microsoft in September 2011.
Herbert is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering
, a Fellow of the British Computer Society
, a Liveryman
of the City of London Worshipful Company of Information Technologists
and a Fellow of the British Computer Society
. He is a member of ACM
and IEEE. He is a Visiting Professor at University College London
, an Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge
and a member of St John's College, Cambridge
.
Herbert was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours.
Outside of computing, Herbert's interests include flying and restoring vintage aircraft, computer conservation and building scale working models of steam railway locomotives.
Now in retirement, Herbert is the director of a project to construct a replica of the Cambridge EDSAC
computer as it was in May 1947 when it ran its first program. The project is sponsored by Cambridge University and the Computer Conservation Society
: The replica will be constructed at The National Museum of Computing
.
s, distributed computing
, programming language
s and large-scale data driven
systems. His most significant research achievements were an operating system for the Cambridge CAP Computer, his contributions to the Cambridge Model Distributed System and the Advanced Networked Systems Architecture.
Programme. ANSA aimed to develop a distributed systems software architecture to support applications integration in enterprise
-wide systems. The ANSA work included support for interactive multi-media services, object technology for World Wide Web
applications, distributed systems management, mobile object systems and security for electronic commerce. ANSA was an early example of what became to be known as 'middleware'.
In the 1990s "ANSAWare" software based on the ANSA architecture was used by many organizations ahead of the widespread availability of commercial, CORBA
-based products for distributed computing. Notable successes included the NASA Astrophysics Data System
(ADS), a European radio pager system and the online customer service system for a major UK utility. As part of his ANSA work, Herbert played an active role in many standards and consortia for distributed computing including TINA-C
, RM-ODP
, OSF
DCE
and OMG
CORBA.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 1954) is a British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
computer scientist
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
, formerly Chairman of Microsoft Research
Microsoft Research
Microsoft Research is the research division of Microsoft created in 1991 for developing various computer science ideas and integrating them into Microsoft products. It currently employs Turing Award winners C.A.R. Hoare, Butler Lampson, and Charles P...
, for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
Biography
Herbert received a BSc in computational science from the Leeds University in 1975, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Cambridge University in 1978 for his work on "A Microprogrammed Operating System Kernel".In 1978 he started working at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
The Computer Laboratory is the computer science department of the University of Cambridge. As of 2007, it employs 35 academic staff, 25 support staff, 35 affiliated research staff, and about 155 research students...
as assistant professor under Maurice Wilkes and Roger Needham
Roger Needham
Roger Michael Needham, CBE, FRS, FREng was a British computer scientist.-Early life:He attended Doncaster Grammar School for Boys in Doncaster ....
in the Computer Laboratory worked with others on the "Cambridge Model Distributed System". In 1985 he left Cambridge to found his own contract research company (Architecture Projects Ltd - APM Ltd), which led projects to develop ANSA, the Advanced Network Systems Architecture. In 1996 he had founded another sister company called Digitivity to develop a product to enable the secure deployment of Java clients for business-to-business applications. Two years later he joined Citrix Systems Inc. following their acquistion of APM and Digitivity to become Director of Advanced Technology. In 2001 he joined Microsoft Research in Cambridge as an assistant director, and became managing director in April 2003. In 2010 he became chairman of Microsoft Research EMEA. He retired from Microsoft in September 2011.
Herbert is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering
Royal Academy of Engineering
-Overview: is the UK’s national academy of engineering. The Academy brings together the most successful and talented engineers from across the engineering sectors for a shared purpose: to advance and promote excellence in engineering....
, a Fellow of the British Computer Society
British Computer Society
The British Computer Society, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in Information Technology in the United Kingdom and internationally...
, a Liveryman
Liveryman
For Livery Companies in the City of London, a Liveryman is a full member of their respective Company.Livery Company members fall into two basic categories: Freemen and Liverymen. One may join as a Freeman, and thereby acquire the "Freedom of the Company", upon fulfilling the Company's criteria...
of the City of London Worshipful Company of Information Technologists
Worshipful Company of Information Technologists
The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists , aka the Information Technologists' Company , is the 100th Livery Company of the City of London...
and a Fellow of the British Computer Society
British Computer Society
The British Computer Society, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in Information Technology in the United Kingdom and internationally...
. He is a member of ACM
ACM
ACM is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* Alkyl acrylate copolymer, a type of rubber commonly found in automotive transmissions and hoses* Arnold-Chiari malformation* Asbestos Containing Material* Association for Computing Machinery...
and IEEE. He is a Visiting Professor at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, an Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge
Wolfson College, Cambridge
Wolfson College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Wolfson is one of a small number of Cambridge colleges which admit only students over the age of 21. The majority of students at the college are postgraduates, with around 15% studying undergraduate...
and a member of St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
.
Herbert was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours.
Outside of computing, Herbert's interests include flying and restoring vintage aircraft, computer conservation and building scale working models of steam railway locomotives.
Now in retirement, Herbert is the director of a project to construct a replica of the Cambridge EDSAC
EDSAC
Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator was an early British computer. The machine, having been inspired by John von Neumann's seminal First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, was constructed by Maurice Wilkes and his team at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory in England...
computer as it was in May 1947 when it ran its first program. The project is sponsored by Cambridge University and the Computer Conservation Society
Computer Conservation Society
The Computer Conservation Society is a British organization, founded in 1989. It is under the joint umbrella of the British Computer Society, the Science Museum in London, and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. Many of the society's meetings are held at the Science Museum...
: The replica will be constructed at The National Museum of Computing
The National Museum of Computing
The National Museum of Computing is a museum in the United Kingdom dedicated to collecting and restoring historic computer systems. The museum is based at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, England, and opened in 2007...
.
Work
Herbert's research interests include computer networking, operating systemOperating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s, distributed computing
Distributed computing
Distributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems. A distributed system consists of multiple autonomous computers that communicate through a computer network. The computers interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal...
, programming language
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
s and large-scale data driven
Data driven
Data driven means that progress in an activity is compelled by data, rather than by intuition or personal experience. This often refers to:* Data-driven programming* Data driven journalism* Data-driven testing* Data driven learning, or DDL...
systems. His most significant research achievements were an operating system for the Cambridge CAP Computer, his contributions to the Cambridge Model Distributed System and the Advanced Networked Systems Architecture.
Advanced Networked Systems Architecture
The Advanced Networked Systems Architecture (ANSA) was an applied research programme starting in the 1980s as part of the UK AlveyAlvey
The Alvey Programme was a British government sponsored research program in information technology that ran from 1983 to 1987. The program was a reaction to the Japanese Fifth generation computer project.Focus areas for the Alvey Programme included:...
Programme. ANSA aimed to develop a distributed systems software architecture to support applications integration in enterprise
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
-wide systems. The ANSA work included support for interactive multi-media services, object technology for World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
applications, distributed systems management, mobile object systems and security for electronic commerce. ANSA was an early example of what became to be known as 'middleware'.
In the 1990s "ANSAWare" software based on the ANSA architecture was used by many organizations ahead of the widespread availability of commercial, CORBA
Çorba
Chorba , ciorbă , shurpa , shorpo , or sorpa is one of various kinds of soup or stew found in national cuisines across Middle East...
-based products for distributed computing. Notable successes included the NASA Astrophysics Data System
Astrophysics Data System
The Astrophysics Data System , developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration , is an online database of over eight million astronomy and physics papers from both peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed sources...
(ADS), a European radio pager system and the online customer service system for a major UK utility. As part of his ANSA work, Herbert played an active role in many standards and consortia for distributed computing including TINA-C
Tina-c
TINA-C stands for Telecommunication Information Networking Architecture Consortium. It was an attempt by several actors in the telecommunication world to define, design and realize a software architecture for the telecommunication infrastructure...
, RM-ODP
RM-ODP
Reference Model of Open Distributed Processing is a reference model in computer science, which provides a co-ordinating framework for the standardization of open distributed processing...
, OSF
Open Software Foundation
The Open Software Foundation was a not-for-profit organization founded in 1988 under the U.S. National Cooperative Research Act of 1984 to create an open standard for an implementation of the UNIX operating system.-History:...
DCE
Distributed Computing Environment
The Distributed Computing Environment is a software system developed in the early 1990s by a consortium that included Apollo Computer , IBM, Digital Equipment Corporation, and others. The DCE supplies a framework and toolkit for developing client/server applications...
and OMG
Object Management Group
Object Management Group is a consortium, originally aimed at setting standards for distributed object-oriented systems, and is now focused on modeling and model-based standards.- Overview :...
CORBA.
Publications
Herbert published several books and articles, a selection:- 1979. The Cambridge CAP Computer and Its Operating System. With Maurice Wilkes and Roger NeedhamRoger NeedhamRoger Michael Needham, CBE, FRS, FREng was a British computer scientist.-Early life:He attended Doncaster Grammar School for Boys in Doncaster ....
(ed.) - 1984. Cambridge distributed computing system. With Roger NeedhamRoger NeedhamRoger Michael Needham, CBE, FRS, FREng was a British computer scientist.-Early life:He attended Doncaster Grammar School for Boys in Doncaster ....
- 2004. Computer systems : theory, technology, and applications : a tribute to Roger Needham . With Karen Spärck JonesKaren Spärck JonesKaren Spärck Jones FBA was a British computer scientist.Karen Spärck Jones was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England. Her father was Owen Jones, a lecturer in chemistry, and her mother was Ida Spärck, a Norwegian who moved to Britain during World War II...
(ed.)