Paul J. Scott

Professor Paul Scott has an honours degree in Mathematics and an MSc in Statistics, a PhD in Statistics with a thesis entitled Multipivital models with applications to a shape fitting problem under the supervision of Dr Rodney Coleman at Imperial College London and a DSc with a thesis entltled Decomposition for Geometrical products from the University of Huddersfield. Paul Scott started his career at Taylor Hobson Ltd, Leicester: a world leader in the design and development of ultra-precision metrology instruments for surface texture and form. He spent twenty six years in the research department applying mathematical ideas and concepts to surface texture and form measuring instruments both during the development of instrumentation and post development for mathematical enhancements of the metrological capabilities of instrumentation. Paul focused his research on why algorithms in surface and form characterisation and instrumentation are quick and stable whilst others are not. Only by going back to mathematical fundamental principles is it possible to discover core factors for determining quick and substantially stable algorithms to solve problems and even to try and generalise the global solution to wider problems. Most of the algorithms he developed, usually being the first in the field, have become the de-facto standard algorithms against which algorithms developed by others are compared. Paul is also very active in National and International Standardisation for Geometrical Product Specification and Verification (GPS). He is a core member of the BSI Committee TDW4 and convenor of one of its sub-committees TDW4/-/9. Paul Scott is also a leading member of ISO Technical Committee TC/213 being a founder member of its strategic group AG1, a founder member of its technical review group AG2, convenor of working group WG15 on Filtration and Extraction and also convenor of advisory group AG12 on Mathematics for Geometrical Product Specification. He was project leader for twenty three published ISO standards and is currently working on three new ISO documents. In 1995 Paul became a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, working one day a week with the surface metrology group. In 1997 the whole group moved to the University of Huddersfield and became a part of the Centre for Precision Technologies (CPT). In 2001 Paul became the Taylor Hobson Visiting Industrial Professor: working for two days a week at the CPT, Paul Scott’s University research took a more fundamental and longer term view of mathematical metrology, asking the question: What mathematical tools will be required to solve metrology problems of the future? In answer to this question Paul: •Pioneered the use of pattern analysis to define surface features for the characterisation of surface texture, •Prove a necessary and sufficient criterion for stable measurement by considering the philosophy and structure of measurement, •Helped establish a standardized framework and a toolbox of different geometrical filters, •Helped in the development of a new paradigm for next generation of smart documents, based on category theory. In March 2010 Paul was awarded a Chair for Computational Geometry in the School of Computing and Engineering. Outside of work Prof Scott enjoys: Astronomy, Numismatics, Archaeology, and solving Mathematical Puzzles