David John Pearson (born 18 May 1946) is a computer scientist and an Associate of the Royal College of Science. He was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire and was educated at Park High School and Imperial College, London, where he graduated in theoretical physics, and went on to do research in finite element analysis and mathematical modelling. He joined ICL in 1968 and became head of software engineering, responsible for CADES, the development system for VME/B. After spending four years as director of advanced development for Bell-Northern Research in Ottawa, he became the founder and president of Orcatech, one of the world's first intelligent graphics workstation companies. He went on to become the founding chief executive and director of the Strathclyde Institute in Glasgow, Scotland, a senior director of Scottish Enterprise and chief executive for the economic development agency for Norfolk and Waveney. Before retiring, he spent three years as chief operating officer of the Industrial Society, later to become the Work Foundation.
ICL CADES Pearson started his career at International Computers Limited in 1968. He was involved in the early development work of the VME/B operating system for ICL’s 2900 Series. He was the innovator and original architect of the CADES software engineering system [1][2] that was the foundation of VME/B development activities for over 20 years, and led its development team until 1977.[3][4] CADES was one of the first software engineering environments to be used for the development of large-scale software.[5][6][7]
Bell-Northern Research Laboratories At the end of 1977, Pearson moved to Bell-Northern Research Laboratories in Ottawa, Canada, as Director of Advanced Development. Whilst at BNR his primary focus was on heuristic design and development technologies for Northern Telecom digital communications products.[8][9][10] During this time he also served as a member of the National Science and Engineering Council for Canada.
Orcatech Inc In 1981, with a small number of BNR colleagues, Pearson left to found Orcatech Inc., a company specialising in the design and development of high resolution intelligent graphics workstations for the computer-aided engineering market.[11] After developing a portfolio of successful workstation products, Pearson as President and CEO took the company public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 1983, at that time one of the youngest companies ever to go public on the TSX.
The Strathclyde Institute In 1986 he moved back to the UK and became the first chief executive of the Strathclyde Institute, a research and consultancy think tank focussing on advanced manufacturing systems and based in Glasgow, Scotland. During his six years as chief executive, the Institute worked with some of the world’s leading companies in the areas of computer engineering, jet engine manufacture, automotive assembly, food and beverage processing, and pharmaceuticals. Concurrently, Pearson was also a professor in management at Strathclyde University in Glasgow.
Economic Development In 1993 Pearson became a senior director of Scottish Enterprise [1], the national body responsible for the economic development of Scotland. While there he specialised in economic growth strategies for the west of Scotland. After three years with Scottish Enterprise, Pearson took over as chief executive of Norfolk and Waveney Enterprise Partnership, the then economic development agency for much of East Anglia.[12] He also served as a member of the University of East Anglia Senate. His final career move, at the beginning of 2000, was as chief operating officer of the Industrial Society, later to become The Work Foundation [2]. He retired in 2003 to British Columbia, Canada.
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