Doctor of Science
A ground-breaking researcher into AI, biomedical systems, robotics and cyborgs.
After leaving school at the age of 16, Kevin Warwick began an apprenticeship with British Telecom and, while there, earned his first degree at Aston University (1976). He went on to complete a PhD degree from Imperial College London, leading to a research post.
He has held positions at Oxford, Newcastle, Warwick and Reading universities and was Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Coventry University. He has published over 600 research papers.
Today Kevin is Emeritus Professor at Reading and Coventry Universities. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Czech Technical University, the University of Strathclyde, Bournemouth University, and the University of Reading.
A chartered engineer, he sits on the Advisory Boards of the Instinctive Computing Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University and the Centre for Intermedia at the University of Exeter.
Kevin may be best known for experiments that made him the subject of a cover story in the US magazine, Wired. These involved him placing a computer-linked neuro-surgical implant into the nerves of his arm, with the ultimate aim of helping disabled individuals.
The focus of his research is artificial intelligence, biomedical systems, robotics and cyborgs. He has invented an intelligent deep brain stimulator to counteract the effects of Parkinson’s disease tremors and has used neural networks to drive robots with ‘brains’ made of neural tissue. He achieved the world’s first direct electronic communication between two human nervous systems - the basis for thought communication.
Among the many awards Kevin has received is an honorary doctorate from the ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú and DSc degrees from Imperial College London and the Czech Academy of Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and of the City and Guilds of London Institute (FCGI), and was Senior Beckman Fellow at the University of Illinois (2004).
He has received the MIT’s Future of Health Technology Award, IET’s Achievement and Mountbatten Medals, and the Ellison-Cliffe Medal from the Royal Society of Medicine. In 2000 he presented the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, entitled The Rise of the Robots. He was elected to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (2014) and to the International Academy for Systems and Cybernetic Sciences (2018).