Peter B. Denyer

In 1980 Denyer became a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, where he carried out a series of research projects and held multiple consultancies. His first research project there involved the invention of "a method of bit-serial silicon compilation." Denyer then, in quick succession, became a Reader at the university and then a Professor. According to the Royal Society, Denyer's "promotion from Reader to Professor set a record – on 1 October 1986 he was appointed Reader, but the very next day he was appointed to the Advent Chair of Integrated Electronics (Venture Capital), becoming the youngest Professor at the University of Edinburgh. Through the venture capitalist Advent, this post carried consultancy links with many other companies." Carver Mead, a leading figure in VLSI research, said at the time that Denyer was "one of a handful of most creative and innovative workers in the VLSI field...There are, world-wide, perhaps two or three people of any age that combine a comparable depth of scientific understanding, with a demonstrated capability to subject their ideas to real, experimental verification." Mead invited Denyer to join him at the California Institute of Technology, but largely because Denyer's Glasgow-born wife wanted to educate their children in Scotland, Denyer did not emigrate.[2]

During his early years at Edinburgh, Denyer "took up two Fellowships – one with Sir Clive Sinclair and then one in information technology. He also held extensive consultancies, including with BT, BP,Thorn-EMI ESA, Shlumberger and, with colleagues, gave short courses to industry. His next step was to secure funding for the Silicon Architectures Research Initiative, a 30-man joint programme between the University and seven supporting companies, which he led."[2]

Aware of the shortcomings of commercially available imaging systems, Denyer sought to create better imager chips. His first objectives with regard to CMOS chips was to develop them for use in security systems. This effort resulted in the world's first single-chip CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) video camera, completed in 1989 and described in a paper published that year by Denyer and his colleagues David Renshaw, Lu Mingying, and Wang Guoyo. In order to develop this technology in a commercial direction, to invent a variety of devices making use of it, to sell single-chip video cameras, and to ensure that they maintained their intellectual rights to the products deriving from their research, Denyer and Renshaw established VLSI Vision Ltd (VVL) in 1990 with the help of financial support from the university and from venture capitalists.

It took a while before the firm's CMOS chips were able to match the quality of the pre-existing technology, known as CCDs. But eventually the firm became very successful, growing from one employee to about a hundred and establishing offices in California and New Jersey. It was the first company based at a Scottish university to become a PLC and be traded on the London Stock Exchange. As Denyer said, "we did beat the pants off" the CCD-producing competition "on the level of integration we could achieve, and in particular the power consumption of CMOS camera chips....In 1997 we shipped a million cameras.....These were the glory years for me as well as for the company."

"One day I would be deep inside the circuit that was going to reduce noise levels by two electrons, the next I was schmoozing City fund managers. On top of this a million people on the street were using my products." For several years VVL held a clear lead in the field. Denyer continued to develop new products, and an account by the Royal Society praises his generosity in handing over many of them to other scientists to develop, as well as the "extraordinary skill" with which he persuaded bankers and venture capitalists to invest in VVL as it continued to grow.

Then came trouble. By the mid 1990s, competitors to VVL had begun to emerge in the US and Asia. VVL began to lose money. "We were crucified for this," said Denyer. To preserve its competitive edge and restore its profitability, VVL needed to expand, and to this end Denyer sold the firm in 1998 for £23.2 million to ST Microelectronics, a semiconductor firm of which it became the standalone Imaging Division. "One of the hardest days of my professional life," said Denyer, "was the day I stood in front of my company and told them I had sold the business." As a result of the sale, ST Microelectronics has become one of the world's leading producers of camera chips for mobile phones. "By 2005, more CMOS cameras than CCDs were being shipped," Denyer later said. "All that cranky prophesy that I had indulged in as an academic had finally come true." The R&D division is still located in Edinburgh and retains its strong tie to the university's School of Engineering.[2][3][4][7][9][10][11][12] "The fact that he sold the company in return for share options – which later went down – meant he did not become a greatly wealthy man." reported the Herald Scotland.[4]

Between 1992 and 1998, Denyer was on a leave of absence from his chair at the university; in 1998, after selling VVL, he resigned from his chair. He then began to focus on helping young academics with potentially commercial ideas to establish start-ups and attract investors. He also co-founded and served as chairman of the firm MicroEmissive Displays (MED), which was based at the Scottish Microelectronics Centre on the campus of the University of Edinburgh and was the world's leading developer of polymer organic light-emitting-diode (P-OLED)-based microdisplays. MED was credited in the Guinness Book of World Records with having created the world's smallest TV screen, which was the size of a child's fingernail. MED established itself as "the world's leading developer of polymer organic light emitting diode (P-OLED) based microdisplays, which consume less power than liquid crystal and liquid-crystal-on- silicon microdisplays." Denyer also co-founded and became chair of Rhetorical Systems, which he later sold to Nuance Communications Inc,

During his last decade, Denyer was involved in the establishment of a series of Scottish high-tech businesses, providing advice and/or financial backing to many of them and creating over 100 jobs. In a 2008 interview, Denyer explained that at that point he was "on my third wave" of start-ups, "six of them. Most of them university spin outs." He became chair of the firms ATEEDA and QFT; served as an adviser to and director of Dexela, which designed large-area X-ray sensors for mammography; chaired Eleksen Ltd, a tech company which develops applications for sensing fabric; chaired Quantum Filament Technology, commercializing a novel field-emission approach for the next generation of flat displays;[12] and sat on the board of the London-based ERA Foundation, whose purpose is to help invigorate the British economy by enabling the exploitation of electrotechnology research. After Denyer's death, the ERA Foundation's chairman, Sir Alan Rudge, described Denyer as "a thoughtful visionary and energetic enthusiast"[3][9][12] In addition, Denyer served as chair of Pufferfish, a firm started by Edinburgh students, which produced Pufferspheres, the suspended projectors used at concerts.[3] In 2001 the University of Edinburgh, where he served as an advisor to the Commercialisation Unit, made him an Honorary Professor.[2][3] According to science writer Michael Kenward, Denyer was driven to entrepreneurship less by the profit motive than by the belief that his work could not change things if handed over "to the slowly grinding wheels of ponderous big companies."[9]