PhD, C.Eng. FIEE
1919–1997
Role: Chief engineer
Responsibility: Designed LEO based on EDSAC at Cambridge
Having been involved in radar research at Malvern in World War II, Pinkerton heard about the Lyons project while studying for a PhD in ultrasonics at Cambridge. An advertisement in Nature in 1948 looked for a ‘qualified engineer with experience of television design and ultra high frequency techniques’. Pinkerton realised it was the same job he had heard mentioned at Cambridge, applied and joined Lyons in January 1949.
Pinkerton built LEO based on the EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator) design, but modified for business purposes. He was appointed a Director of LEO Computers Limited in 1959, but later resigned, taking on a role in the development of International Standards as well as representing the UK in various EU bodies.
Biographies – The Centre of Computing History, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, Wikipedia, IEEE Annals