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Pierre Étienne Bézier (1 September 1910 – 25 November 1999; ) was a French engineer and one of the founders of the fields of solid, geometric and physical modelling as well as in the field of representing curves, especially in
computer-aided design Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...
and
manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...
systems. As an engineer at
Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...
, he became a leader in the transformation of design and manufacturing, through mathematics and computing tools, into computer-aided design and three-dimensional modeling. Bézier
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...
ed and popularized the
Bézier curve A Bézier curve ( , ) is a parametric equation, parametric curve used in computer graphics and related fields. A set of discrete "control points" defines a smooth, continuous curve by means of a formula. Usually the curve is intended to approxima ...
s and
Bézier surface Bézier surfaces are a type of mathematical spline used in computer graphics, computer-aided design, and finite element modeling. As with Bézier curves, a Bézier surface is defined by a set of control points. Similar to interpolation in many ...
s that are now used in most computer-aided design and
computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images and art with the aid of computers. Computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, digital art, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. ...
systems.


Background

Born in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, Bézier was the son and grandson of engineers. He obtained a degree in
mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...
from the
École nationale supérieure d'arts et métiers École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...
in 1930. He earned a second degree in
electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
in 1931 at the
École supérieure d'électricité École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...
, and a doctorate in 1977 in
mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
from the
Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University Pierre and Marie Curie University ( , UPMC), also known as Paris VI, was a public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussieu Campus in the Latin Quarter of the 5th arrondissement of Paris, ...
where he contributed to the study of parametric polynomial curves and their vector coefficients. From 1968 to 1979 Bézier was Professor of Production Engineering at the
Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers The (; ; abbr. CNAM) is an AMBA-accredited French ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement''. It is a member of the '' Conférence des Grandes écoles'', which is an equivalent to the Ivy League schools in the United States, Oxbridge in th ...
. He wrote four books and numerous papers, and received several distinctions including the
Steven Anson Coons Steven Anson Coons (March 7, 1912 – August 1979) was an early pioneer in the field of computer graphics methods. He was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the mechanical engineering department. After leaving MIT, he ...
Award from the
Association for Computing Machinery The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional membe ...
and an
honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
from
Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...
. He was an honorary member of the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing edu ...
and of the Société Belge des Mécaniciens, president of the Société des Ingénieurs et Scientifiques de France, Société des Ingénieurs Arts et Metiers, and one of the first Advisory Editors of ''Computer-Aided Design'' magazine. With his family's consent, the
Solid Modeling Solid modeling (or solid modelling) is a consistent set of principles for mathematical and computer modeling of three-dimensional shapes '' (solids)''. Solid modeling is distinguished within the broader related areas of geometric modeling and ...
Association established ''The Pierre Bézier Award for Solid, Geometric and Physical Modeling and Applications'' in 2007.


Bézier curve

Bézier popularized but did not actually create the
Bézier curve A Bézier curve ( , ) is a parametric equation, parametric curve used in computer graphics and related fields. A set of discrete "control points" defines a smooth, continuous curve by means of a formula. Usually the curve is intended to approxima ...
 — using such curves to design
automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
bodies. The curves were first developed in 1959 by
Paul de Casteljau Paul de Casteljau (19 November 1930 – 24 March 2022) was a French physicist and mathematician. In 1959, while working at Citroën, he developed an algorithm for evaluating calculations on a certain family of curves, which would later be formali ...
using
de Casteljau's algorithm In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, De Casteljau's algorithm is a recursive method to evaluate polynomials in Bernstein form or Bézier curves, named after its inventor Paul de Casteljau. De Casteljau's algorithm can also be used to sp ...
, a numerically stable method to evaluate Bézier curves. The curves remain widely used in computer graphics to model smooth curves. Bézier developed the notation, consisting of nodes with attached control handles, with which the curves are represented in computer software. The control handles define the shape of the curve on either side of the common node, and can be manipulated by the user, via the software. Bézier curves were adopted as the standard curve of the
PostScript PostScript (PS) is a page description language and dynamically typed, stack-based programming language. It is most commonly used in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing realm, but as a Turing complete programming language, it c ...
language and subsequently were adopted by vector programs such as
Adobe Illustrator Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor and Computer-aided design, design software developed and marketed by Adobe Inc., Adobe. Originally designed for the Apple Inc., Apple Mac (computer), Macintosh, development of Adobe Illustrator began ...
,
CorelDRAW CorelDRAW is a vector graphics editor developed and marketed by Alludo (formerly Corel Corporation). It is also the name of the Corel graphics suite, which includes the bitmap-image editor Corel Photo-Paint as well as other graphics-related progr ...
and
Inkscape Inkscape is a vector graphics editor. It is used for both artistic and technical illustrations such as cartoons, clip art, logos, typography, diagrams, and flowcharts. It uses vector graphics to allow for sharp printouts and renderings at ...
. Most outline fonts, including
TrueType TrueType is an Computer font#Outline fonts, outline font standardization, standard developed by Apple Inc., Apple in the late 1980s as a competitor to Adobe Inc., Adobe's PostScript fonts#Type 1, Type 1 fonts used in PostScript. It has become the ...
and PostScript Type 1, are defined with Bézier curves.


Renault

From 1933 to 1975 Bézier worked for
Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...
, where he would ultimately develop his
UNISURF UNISURF was a pioneering surface CAD/ CAM system, designed to assist with car body design and tooling. It was developed by French engineer Pierre Bézier for Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known ...
CAD
CAM Cam or CAM may refer to: Science and technology * Cam (mechanism), a mechanical linkage which translates motion * Camshaft, a shaft with a cam * Camera or webcam, a device that records images or video In computing * Computer-aided manufacturin ...
system. He began his 42-year tenure at Renault as a Tool Setter. In 1934, Bézier became Tool Designer and in 1945 became Head of the Tool Design Office. As Director of Production Engineering in 1949, he designed the "transfer machines" that produced most of the mechanical parts for the
Renault 4CV The Renault 4CV (, as if spelled ''quat'chevaux'') is a car produced by the French company Renault from August 1947 through July 1961. It is a four-door economy car with its engine mounted in the rear and driving the rear wheels. It was the fir ...
. The transfer machines were high-performance work tools designed to machine engine blocks. While imprisoned during WWII, Bézier developed and improved on the "automatic machine principle" introduced before the war by
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
. The new "transfer station", with multiple workstations and electromagnetic heads (antecedents to robots), enabled different operations on a single part to be consecutively performed by transferring the part from one station to another. In 1957, Bézier became Director of the Machine Tool Division, responsible for the automatic assembly of mechanical components and for the design and production of
numerical control Computer numerical control (CNC) or CNC machining is the automated control of machine tools by a computer. It is an evolution of numerical control (NC), where machine tools are directly managed by data storage media such as punched cards or ...
drilling and milling machines. Bézier began managing technical development at Renault in 1960. He retired from Renault in 1975.


CAD

Bézier began researching CAD/
CAM Cam or CAM may refer to: Science and technology * Cam (mechanism), a mechanical linkage which translates motion * Camshaft, a shaft with a cam * Camera or webcam, a device that records images or video In computing * Computer-aided manufacturin ...
in 1960 while at Renault, focusing on the
UNISURF UNISURF was a pioneering surface CAD/ CAM system, designed to assist with car body design and tooling. It was developed by French engineer Pierre Bézier for Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known ...
system he developed for use with drawing machines, computer control, interactive free-form curves, surface design and 3D milling for manufacturing clay models and masters. UNISURF debuted in 1968 and has been in full use since 1975. In 1985 he was recognized by
ACM SIGGRAPH ACM SIGGRAPH is the international Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques based in New York. It was founded in 1969 by Andy van Dam (its direct predecessor, ACM SICGRAPH was ...
with a Steven A. Coons Award for his lifetime contribution to computer graphics and interactive techniques.


See also

*
Bézier triangle A Bézier triangle is a special type of Bézier surface that is created by (Linearity, linear, Square (algebra), quadratic, Cube (algebra), cubic or higher degree) interpolation of control points. ''n''th-order Bézier triangle A general ''n''th-or ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bezier, Pierre 1910 births 1999 deaths Renault people Computer graphics professionals Arts et Métiers ParisTech alumni