Sophie Mary Wilson (born Roger Wilson; June 1957) is an English

computer scientist A computer scientist is a person who is trained in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation, as opposed to the hardware side on which computer engineers mainly focus (a ...

, who helped design the BBC Micro and ARM architecture. Wilson first designed a microcomputer during a break from studies at

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn ( ...

. She subsequently joined Acorn Computers and was instrumental in designing the BBC Micro, including the BBC BASIC

programming language A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs. Most programming languages are text-based formal languages, but they may also be graphical. They are a kind of computer language. The description of a programming ...

whose development she led for the next 15 years. She first began designing the ARM reduced instruction set computer (RISC) in 1983, which entered production two years later. It became popular in

embedded system An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is ''embedded ...

s and is now the most widely used processor architecture in

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whi ...

s. Wilson is currently a director at the technology conglomerate Broadcom Inc. In 2011, she was listed in '' Maximum PC'' as number 8 in an article titled "The 15 Most Important Women in Tech History". She was made a

Commander of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 2019.

Early life and education

Born Roger Wilson, she was raised in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

, Yorkshire, by parents who were both teachers, her father specialising in English and her mother in physics. From 1975, she studied computer science and the

Mathematical Tripos The Mathematical Tripos is the mathematics course that is taught in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. It is the oldest Tripos examined at the University. Origin In its classical nineteenth-century form, the tripos was ...

at Selwyn College,

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and was a member of their Microprocessor society. In an Easter break from university, Wilson designed a microcomputer with a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, inspired by the earlier

MK14 The MK14 (Microcomputer Kit 14) was a computer kit sold by Science of Cambridge of the United Kingdom, first introduced in 1977 for £39.95. The price was very low for a complete computer system at the time, and Science of Cambridge eventually ...

, which was used to electronically control feed for cows.

Career

In 1978, she joined Acorn Computers Ltd, after designing a device to prevent cigarette lighter sparks triggering payouts on fruit machines. Her computer design was used by Chris Curry and Hermann Hauser to build the Acorn Micro-Computer, the first of a long line of computers sold by the company. In July 1981, Wilson extended the Acorn Atom's BASIC

dialect into an improved version for the Acorn Proton, a microcomputer that enabled Acorn to win the contract with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for their ambitious computer education project. Hauser employed a deception, telling both Wilson and colleague

Steve Furber Stephen Byram Furber (born 21 March 1953) is a British computer scientist, mathematician and hardware engineer, currently the ICL Professor of Computer Engineering in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manchester, UK. A ...

that the other had agreed a prototype could be built within a week. Taking up the challenge, she designed the system including the circuit board and components from Monday to Wednesday, which required fast new DRAM

integrated circuit An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

s to be sourced directly from Hitachi. By Thursday evening, a prototype had been built, but the software had bugs, requiring her to stay up all night and into Friday debugging. Wilson recalled watching the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on a small portable television while attempting to debug and re-solder the prototype. It was a success with the BBC, who awarded Acorn the contract. Along with Furber, Wilson was present backstage at the machine's first airing on television, in case any software fixes were required. She later described the event as "a unique moment in time when the public wanted to know how this stuff works and could be shown and taught how to programme." The Proton became the BBC Micro and its BASIC evolved into BBC BASIC, whose development was led by Wilson for the next 15 years. As well as programming, she wrote the manuals and technical specifications, realising communication was an important part of being successful. In October 1983, Wilson began designing the instruction set for one of the first reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processors, the Acorn RISC Machine (ARM). The ARM1 was delivered on 26 April 1985 and worked first time. This processor type was later to become one of the most successful IP cores – a licensed

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, a ...

core – and by 2012 was being used in 95% of

s. Wilson designed Acorn Replay, the video architecture for Acorn machines. This included operating system extensions for video access, as well as the codecs, optimized to run high frame rate video on ARM CPUs from the ARM 2 onwards. She was a non-executive director of the technology and games company Eidos plc, which bought and created Eidos Interactive, for the years following its flotation in 1990. She was a consultant to

ARM Ltd Arm is a British semiconductor and software design company based in Cambridge, England. Its primary business is in the design of ARM processors (CPUs). It also designs other chips, provides software development tools under the DS-5, RealVi ...

when it was split off from Acorn in 1990. ARM development

Since the demise of Acorn Computers, Wilson has made a small number of public appearances to talk about work done there. She is now the Director of IC Design in Broadcom's Cambridge, UK office. She was the Chief Architect of Broadcom's Firepath processor. Firepath has its history in Acorn Computers, which, after being renamed to Element 14, was broken up in an acquisition, with the Element 14 name being transferred to a new company, this company eventually being bought by Broadcom in 2000. Wilson was listed in 2011 in '' Maximum PC'' as number 8 in an article titled "The 15 Most Important Women in Tech History".

Honours and awards

She was awarded the Fellow Award by the

Computer History Museum The Computer History Museum (CHM) is a museum of computer history, located in Mountain View, California. The museum presents stories and artifacts of Silicon Valley and the information age, and explores the computing revolution and its impact o ...

in California in 2012 "for her work, with Steve Furber, on the BBC Micro computer and the ARM processor architecture." In 2013, Wilson was elected as a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. She received the 2014 Lovie Lifetime Achievement Award in acknowledgement for her invention of the ARM processor. In 2016, she became an honorary fellow of her alma mater,

. In 2020, she was honoured as a

Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society (DFBCS or DistFBCS) is an award and fellowship granted by the British Computer Society for members of the computing profession who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of co ...

. Wilson was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2019 Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

for services to computing.

Personal life

Wilson underwent gender reassignment surgery and transitioned from male to female in 1994. She enjoys photography and is involved in a local theatre group, where she is in charge of costumes and set pieces and has acted in a number of productions. She has also played a

cameo role A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

as a pub landlady in the BBC television drama '' Micro Men'', in which a younger Wilson is played by Stefan Butler.

References

Sources

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External links

An interview with Sophie WilsonInterviewed by Alan Macfarlane 21 May 2017 (video)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Sophie 1957 births Living people People from Leeds People from East Cambridgeshire District Scientists from Yorkshire Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge 21st-century women engineers British computer scientists Transgender scientists Transgender women Transgender academics British women computer scientists LGBT scientists from the United Kingdom Female Fellows of the Royal Society Female Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows of the British Computer Society Fellows of Selwyn College, Cambridge Fellows of the Women's Engineering Society Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Arm Holdings people Acorn Computers LGBT people from England