Kia Silverbrook
Encyclopedia
Kia Silverbrook is an Australian inventor, scientist
, and serial entrepreneur. He is the world's most prolific inventor with 4,097 granted U.S. utility patents as of 23 August 2011. Internationally, he has 9,042 patents or patent applications registered at the international patent document database (INPADOC
).
Silverbrook has made numerous inventions in the fields of digital music synthesis
, digital video
, digital printing, digital paper
, internet commerce
, computer graphics, liquid crystal displays, robotics
, 3D fabrication, organic chemistry
, software, image processing
, microelectromechanical systems
, mechanical engineering
, cryptography
, sensors
, nanotechnology
, microfluidics
, polymers, fault tolerance, parallel processing
, semiconductor fabrication
, and integrated circuit (chip) architecture.
and invention licensing company. He is chairman and CEO of Silverbrook Research, which is the largest non-government research company in Australia, with around 500 scientists and engineers. Silverbrook Research is the developer of the Memjet
printer technology, the Hyperlabel alternative to RFID, and the Netpage digital pen technology, among others.
Since 2001, Silverbrook Research has appeared in the annual listings of the top 200 global companies, as ranked by US patents, climbing as high as the 28th rank in 2008.
, a printer technology company. He is currently chairman and CTO of Memjet. When Silverbrook first announced the Memjet technology in March 2007, it was widely thought to be a hoax, as the technology seemed to be implausibly advanced. However, now that printers have been demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show
(CES 2011), and announced by such major companies as LG, Lenovo and Medion
the technology has been shown to be real.
.
In 1977 he started at Fairlight Instruments
, the developers of the first polyphonic digital sampling synthesizer
, the Fairlight CMI
. While at Fairlight, he invented and developed the Fairlight CVI, a real-time video effects computer released in 1984. He remained employed by Fairlight Instruments until 1985.
In 1985, Silverbrook founded Integrated Arts, a parallel processing
and computer graphics
company using the Inmos
transputer. Silverbrook was Managing Director (Australian equivalent of US CEO) of Integrated Arts until 1990.
In 1990 an Australian research subsidiary of the Japan
ese electronics company Canon was formed, named Canon Information Systems Research Australia (CiSRA). Silverbrook was Executive Director of CiSRA from its inception until 1994.
) reveals 9,042 patent documents. The INPADOC database includes patent applications that have not yet been granted, as well as some duplication of patents for different countries, so gives an overestimate of the number of separate inventions.
Of Silverbrook's patents, 143 are assigned to Kodak, 134 to Canon, 1 to Cintel
, and 8,760 are assigned to Silverbrook Research.
, Chemical Physics Letters
, and the Journal of Physical Chemistry B
. These papers are in the area of carbon nanotubes and the electronic properties of molecular systems.
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
, and serial entrepreneur. He is the world's most prolific inventor with 4,097 granted U.S. utility patents as of 23 August 2011. Internationally, he has 9,042 patents or patent applications registered at the international patent document database (INPADOC
INPADOC
INPADOC, which stands for International Patent Documentation Center, is an international patent collection. The database is produced and maintained by the European Patent Office...
).
Silverbrook has made numerous inventions in the fields of digital music synthesis
Digital synthesizer
A digital synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses digital signal processing techniques to make musical sounds.Electronic keyboards make music through sound waves.-History:...
, digital video
Digital video
Digital video is a type of digital recording system that works by using a digital rather than an analog video signal.The terms camera, video camera, and camcorder are used interchangeably in this article.- History :...
, digital printing, digital paper
Digital paper
Digital paper, also known as interactive paper, is patterned paper used in conjunction with a digital pen to create handwritten digital documents. The printed dot pattern uniquely identifies the position coordinates on the paper...
, internet commerce
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, computer graphics, liquid crystal displays, robotics
Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...
, 3D fabrication, organic chemistry
Organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...
, software, image processing
Image processing
In electrical engineering and computer science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image...
, microelectromechanical systems
Microelectromechanical systems
Microelectromechanical systems is the technology of very small mechanical devices driven by electricity; it merges at the nano-scale into nanoelectromechanical systems and nanotechnology...
, mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
, cryptography
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
, sensors
Sensor
A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument. For example, a mercury-in-glass thermometer converts the measured temperature into expansion and contraction of a liquid which can be read on a calibrated...
, nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
, microfluidics
Microfluidics
Microfluidics deals with the behavior, precise control and manipulation of fluids that are geometrically constrained to a small, typically sub-millimeter, scale.Typically, micro means one of the following features:* small volumes...
, polymers, fault tolerance, parallel processing
Parallel computing
Parallel computing is a form of computation in which many calculations are carried out simultaneously, operating on the principle that large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which are then solved concurrently . There are several different forms of parallel computing: bit-level,...
, semiconductor fabrication
Semiconductor fabrication
Semiconductor device fabrication is the process used to create the integrated circuits that are present in everyday electrical and electronic devices. It is a multiple-step sequence of photolithographic and chemical processing steps during which electronic circuits are gradually created on a wafer...
, and integrated circuit (chip) architecture.
Silverbrook Research
In 1994 Silverbrook co-founded Silverbrook Research, an Australian research and developmentResearch and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
and invention licensing company. He is chairman and CEO of Silverbrook Research, which is the largest non-government research company in Australia, with around 500 scientists and engineers. Silverbrook Research is the developer of the Memjet
Memjet printer
A Memjet printer is a fast ink-based printer that prints a page in a single pass, using 70,000 ink nozzles to print the full page, at sizes up to 8.5x11" in the first model. Memjet is a . It maintains its corporate office in , and has offices in , Sydney, Taipei, Singapore and Boise, Idaho....
printer technology, the Hyperlabel alternative to RFID, and the Netpage digital pen technology, among others.
Since 2001, Silverbrook Research has appeared in the annual listings of the top 200 global companies, as ranked by US patents, climbing as high as the 28th rank in 2008.
| Year | Rank | U.S. Patents |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 142 | 117 |
| 2002 | 145 | 121 |
| 2003 | 149 | 122 |
| 2004 | 109 | 172 |
| 2005 | 71 | 247 |
| 2006 | 42 | 510 |
| 2007 | 37 | 533 |
| 2008 | 28 | 608 |
| 2009 | 41 | 474 |
| 2010 | 34 | 752 |
Memjet
In 2002 Silverbrook co-founded MemjetMemjet printer
A Memjet printer is a fast ink-based printer that prints a page in a single pass, using 70,000 ink nozzles to print the full page, at sizes up to 8.5x11" in the first model. Memjet is a . It maintains its corporate office in , and has offices in , Sydney, Taipei, Singapore and Boise, Idaho....
, a printer technology company. He is currently chairman and CTO of Memjet. When Silverbrook first announced the Memjet technology in March 2007, it was widely thought to be a hoax, as the technology seemed to be implausibly advanced. However, now that printers have been demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show
Consumer Electronics Show
The International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...
(CES 2011), and announced by such major companies as LG, Lenovo and Medion
Medion
Medion AG is a German consumer electronics company. It operates in Europe, the United States, and the Asia-Pacific region. The main products are computers and notebooks, but also TVs, refrigerators, toasters, and fitness equipment. The company is becoming popular in Europe but has had mixed success...
the technology has been shown to be real.
Early life
Silverbrook was born in 1958 in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
In 1977 he started at Fairlight Instruments
Fairlight
Fairlight is a digital audio company based in Sydney, Australia. In 1979 they created the Fairlight CMI, the first digital audio sampler, quickly used by artists such as Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, and Jean Michel Jarre. They are now a manufacturer of media solutions tools such as digital audio...
, the developers of the first polyphonic digital sampling synthesizer
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
, the Fairlight CMI
Fairlight CMI
The Fairlight CMI is a digital sampling synthesizer. It was designed in 1979 by the founders of Fairlight, Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie, and based on a dual-6800 microprocessor computer designed by Tony Furse in Sydney, Australia...
. While at Fairlight, he invented and developed the Fairlight CVI, a real-time video effects computer released in 1984. He remained employed by Fairlight Instruments until 1985.
In 1985, Silverbrook founded Integrated Arts, a parallel processing
Parallel processing
Parallel processing is the ability to carry out multiple operations or tasks simultaneously. The term is used in the contexts of both human cognition, particularly in the ability of the brain to simultaneously process incoming stimuli, and in parallel computing by machines.-Parallel processing by...
and computer graphics
Computer graphics
Computer graphics are graphics created using computers and, more generally, the representation and manipulation of image data by a computer with help from specialized software and hardware....
company using the Inmos
INMOS
Inmos Limited was a British semiconductor company, founded by Iann Barron, with both the head office and the design office at Aztec West in Bristol, it was incorporated in November 1978.- Products :...
transputer. Silverbrook was Managing Director (Australian equivalent of US CEO) of Integrated Arts until 1990.
In 1990 an Australian research subsidiary of the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese electronics company Canon was formed, named Canon Information Systems Research Australia (CiSRA). Silverbrook was Executive Director of CiSRA from its inception until 1994.
International Patents
A search of the international patent document database (INPADOCINPADOC
INPADOC, which stands for International Patent Documentation Center, is an international patent collection. The database is produced and maintained by the European Patent Office...
) reveals 9,042 patent documents. The INPADOC database includes patent applications that have not yet been granted, as well as some duplication of patents for different countries, so gives an overestimate of the number of separate inventions.
Of Silverbrook's patents, 143 are assigned to Kodak, 134 to Canon, 1 to Cintel
Cintel
Cintel International Ltd is a British company, based in Ware, Hertfordshire,SG12 0AE, which specialises in the design and manufacture of professional post-production equipment, for transcribing film into video or data formats...
, and 8,760 are assigned to Silverbrook Research.
Scientific publications
Silverbrook is co-author of a number of papers in the Journal of Chemical PhysicsJournal of Chemical Physics
The Journal of Chemical Physics is a scientific journal that publishes research papers on all areas of chemical physics. Two volumes, each of 24 issues, are published per year. It is published by the American Institute of Physics. The editors have been:...
, Chemical Physics Letters
Chemical Physics Letters
Chemical Physics Letters is a peer-reviewed scientific journal, published since 1967 by Elsevier. It publishes brief papers in the field of Chemical Physics. The current editors are David Clary, Villy Sundström and the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner, Ahmed Zewail....
, and the Journal of Physical Chemistry B
Journal of Physical Chemistry B
The Journal of Physical Chemistry B is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers research on several fields of material chemistry as well as statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, and biophysical chemistry...
. These papers are in the area of carbon nanotubes and the electronic properties of molecular systems.
Media coverage
- On 13 December 2005 USA TodayUSA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
published a list of "the top 10 living U.S. patent holders". At the time, Silverbrook was ranked third, with 801 U.S. patents. - On 15 October 2007 Condé NastCondé Nast PublicationsCondé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a magazine publisher. In the U.S., it produces 18 consumer magazines, including Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps...
PortfolioCondé Nast PortfolioPortfolio.com is a website published by American City Business Journals that provides news and information for small to mid-sized businesses. It was formerly the website for the monthly business magazine Condé Nast Portfolio, published by Condé Nast from 2007 to 2009.Portfolio.com is continually...
Magazine published an article about "the world's most prolific inventors alive". At the time, Silverbrook was ranked second, with 1646 U.S. patents. - On 7 January 2011 The Washington TimesThe Washington TimesThe Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
published an article titled: "Inkjet, laser, Memjet? Fast color printers on tap". This article discusses the announcement of Memjet printers for the office market at CESConsumer Electronics ShowThe International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...
2011. - On 10 January 2011 IFI Claims published an article: "Top Global Companies Ranked By 2010 U.S. Patents". This article ranked Silverbrook Research at number 34 in U.S. patents for 2010, amongst all global companies.
- On 6 May 2011 Business InsiderBusiness InsiderBusiness Insider is a U.S. business/entertainment news website launched in February 2009. Founded by DoubleClick Founder and former C.E.O. Kevin P. Ryan it is the overarching brand beneath which fall the Silicon Alley Insider and Clusterstock verticals...
published an article titled: "The Ten Greatest Inventors In The Modern Era". At the time, Silverbrook was ranked first, with 3847 U.S. utility patents. - On 9 June 2011 PC MagazinePC MagazinePC Magazine is a computer magazine published by Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009...
published an article titled: "The Best Inventions of 2011 ... So Far". One of Silverbrook's inventions is the first of ten listed inventions.
See also
- List of prolific inventors
- Memjet printerMemjet printerA Memjet printer is a fast ink-based printer that prints a page in a single pass, using 70,000 ink nozzles to print the full page, at sizes up to 8.5x11" in the first model. Memjet is a . It maintains its corporate office in , and has offices in , Sydney, Taipei, Singapore and Boise, Idaho....
- Fairlight InstrumentsFairlightFairlight is a digital audio company based in Sydney, Australia. In 1979 they created the Fairlight CMI, the first digital audio sampler, quickly used by artists such as Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, and Jean Michel Jarre. They are now a manufacturer of media solutions tools such as digital audio...