Hugh F. Durrant-Whyte facts for kids

Hugh Francis Durrant-Whyte (born on February 6, 1961) is a British-Australian engineer and professor. He is famous for his important work in using math to help robots understand their surroundings. The special computer programs he and his team created in the 1990s help self-driving vehicles. These programs allow vehicles to figure out where they are, even when their sensors are not perfect. This process is called simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM).

Early Life and School

Hugh Durrant-Whyte was born in London, England, on February 6, 1961. He went to Richard Hale School, which was a state grammar school in Hertford.

He studied engineering at the University of London. He earned a top degree, a Bachelor of Science (BSc), in 1983. After that, he moved to the United States. There, he studied systems engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Master of Science in Engineering (MSE) degree in 1985. He then earned his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1986. He was also a special scholar, called a Thouron Scholar, in 1983.

Career and Discoveries

From 1986 to 1987, Hugh Durrant-Whyte worked as a research fellow at the University of Oxford. He was also a Fellow at St Cross College, Oxford. Then, from 1987 to 1995, he was a Fellow at Oriel College, Oxford. He also taught engineering science at the university.

In 1995, he became a Professor of Mechatronic Engineering at the University of Sydney in Australia. From 1999 to 2002, he was the director of the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR). From 2002 to 2010, he was the Research Director for a special center called CAS. This center worked on autonomous systems, which are like self-driving robots.

In 2010, he was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists. Hugh has written over 350 research papers. He has also guided more than 70 students to earn their PhD degrees. He has won many awards for his work. He helped make Australian robotics well-known around the world. He was named "Professional Engineer of the Year" in 2008. In 2010, he was named "NSW Scientist of the Year."

Durrant-Whyte is one of the first people to work on SLAM. He worked on this with John J. Leonard. SLAM helps robots and self-driving cars map their environment. It also helps them figure out where they are within that map.

On December 13, 2010, Durrant-Whyte became the CEO of NICTA. This was a leading research center in Australia. He left NICTA on November 28, 2014.

On February 27, 2017, he became the Chief Scientific Adviser for the UK Ministry of Defence. This role involves giving scientific advice to the government.

In May 2018, Hugh Durrant-Whyte was appointed the Chief Scientist & Engineer for New South Wales (NSW) in Australia. He started this job on September 3, 2018. He continues to hold this important position.

Awards and Recognitions

Hugh Durrant-Whyte has received many important awards. Some of these include:

• FRS - Fellow of the Royal Society
• FAA - Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science
• FREng - Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2018)
• FIEEE - Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• FTSE - Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
• HonFIEAus - Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia
• M A Sargent Medal (2017)
• NSW Scientist of the Year (2010)
• IEEE Distinguished Lecturer Award (2009)
• ATSE Clunies Ross Award (2009)
• Professional Engineer of the Year (2008) from the Institute of Engineers Australia, Sydney
• IFR/IEEE Invention and Entrepreneurship Award (2007)
• New South Wales Pearcy Award (2004)
• Harry Lees Award (2004) from the Institute of Marine Engineers
• Warren Centre Innovation Hero (2003)
• BAE Systems Chairman's Gold Award (2003)
• Four IEEE Best Paper prizes (IROS 1994 and 2006, Data Fusion 1997, Robotics 2004)