Peter William McOwan
Peter McOwan | |
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| Born | 14 November 1963 Falkirk, Scotland |
| Died | 1 July 2019 (aged 55) Falkirk, Scotland |
| Alma mater | |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | Queen Mary University of London |
| Thesis | Applications of high-resolution computer generated holograms in optical beam shaping and image display (1990) |
| Doctoral students | |
Peter William McOwan was a Professor of Computer Science in the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at Queen Mary, University of London. His research interests were in visual perception, mathematical models for visual processing, in particular motion, cognitive science and biologically inspired hardware and software and science outreach. He was the co-author of over 120 academic papers.
Biography
Early Life and Research
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Modelling of Motion Perception
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Public Engagement
As Vice President for Public Engagement and Student Enterprise at Queen Mary, University of London, McOwan was involved in a number of projects to enhance understanding and interest in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. These include:
- Co-founder of Computer Science for Fun that promotes Computer Science in schools with its website, free magazines and booklets
- Partner of the OurSpace project that documents the space experiences of video game developer and astronaut, Richard Garriott.
As a result of this work in 2011 he was awarded the ET Mountbatten medal, and was elected a National Teaching Fellow by the Higher Education Academy in 2008.
Interest in Magic
McOwan was a keen amateur magician and was particularly interested in tricks based on Mathematics. He co-authored The Manual of Mathematical Magic with Matt Parker, a free book that explains a number of magic tricks, the mathematics behind them and its use in the modern world.
Key Publications
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References
- ^ Anderson, Andrew (2003). Sensorimotor neural systems for a predatory stealth behaviour camouflaging motion. libraries.london.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of London.
- ^ Anderson, Keith (2004). A real-time facial expression recognition system for affective computing. libraries.london.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of London.
- ^ Sherwood, Adam Christopher (2005). Measurement of spatial orientation using a biologically plausible gradient model. libraries.london.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of London.