Kia Silverbrook facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kia Silverbrook
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| Born | 1958 (age 66–67) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Inventor, scientist, businessman |
Kia Silverbrook (born 1958) is an Australian inventor and scientist. He is known as one of the most active inventors in the world. He has been granted thousands of utility patents in the United States. A utility patent protects new and useful inventions. He also has many patents and patent applications registered internationally.
Silverbrook has started many companies and created products in different areas. These include computer graphics, video, sound, digital printing, and LCD screens. He has also worked on MEMS devices (tiny machines), security inks, and photovoltaic solar cells (solar panels).
Contents
Early Life and Inventions
Kia Silverbrook was born in Australia in 1958.
In 1977, he started working at Fairlight Instruments. This company made the first digital music sampler, called the Fairlight CMI. A sampler is a musical instrument that records and plays back sounds. While there, he invented the Fairlight CVI. This was a computer that created video effects in real-time. He worked at Fairlight Instruments until 1985.
In 1985, Silverbrook started his own company called Integrated Arts. This company focused on parallel processing and computer graphics. Parallel processing means using many computer processors at once to solve problems faster. Silverbrook was the managing director of this company until 1990.
In 1990, a Japanese company called Canon started a research company in Australia. It was named Canon Information Systems Research Australia (CiSRA). Silverbrook was an executive director at CiSRA from the start until 1994.
A Prolific Inventor
Between 2008 and 2017, Kia Silverbrook was considered the world's most active inventor. This was based on the number of utility patents he had been granted. In 2008, he had more U.S. utility patents than Japanese inventor Shunpei Yamazaki. However, in 2017, Yamazaki gained the lead again.
To help him register so many new ideas, Silverbrook started a company called Priority Matters. Its main job was to file his patents.
Netpage Technology
Silverbrook is the founder and CEO of Netpage. This company uses technology that Silverbrook Research first patented in 1999. This special technology was first shown in Esquire magazine.
Geneasys and Medical Devices
Silverbrook is also the founder and chairman of an Australian company called Geneasys. Geneasys stands for Genetic Analysis Systems. This company is creating a new medical device called "KeyLab." This device can analyze different diseases from DNA using a regular smartphone.
The goal of Geneasys is to give medical workers, aid workers, and even regular people a simple, low-cost, and very accurate way to test for diseases.
Silverbrook Research
In 1994, Kia Silverbrook helped start Silverbrook Research. This Australian company focuses on research and development and licensing inventions. Silverbrook is the chairman and CEO of this company.
Silverbrook Research developed several important technologies. These include the Memjet printer technology, Hyperlabel (an alternative to RFID tags), and the Netpage viewer and digital pen technologies. Since 2001, Silverbrook Research has often been listed among the top global companies for U.S. patents. In 2008, it reached the 28th rank.
Superlattice Solar
In 2011, Silverbrook founded Superlattice Solar. This company works on thin-film solar photovoltaic technology. Their goal is to make solar power so affordable that it costs less than keeping old power plants running.
Memjet Printers
In 2002, Silverbrook also helped create Memjet, a company focused on printer technology. Prototype printers were shown at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2011). Major companies like LG, Fuji Xerox, Canon, and Toshiba announced their plans to use Memjet technology.
The Memjet technology has won several awards. These include Popular Science's "Best of what's new - 2011" and a Gold Medal at the Edison Awards in 2012.
In 2012, a legal disagreement arose between the main investor in Memjet and Silverbrook. They later reached an agreement. Under this agreement, Memjet gained control of the technology, and all legal claims were dropped.
Scientific Work
Silverbrook has also co-authored several scientific papers. These papers were published in important journals like the Journal of Chemical Physics. His work in this area focuses on carbon nanotubes and the electronic properties of tiny molecular systems.
See also
In Spanish: Kia Silverbrook para niños
- List of prolific inventors
