Martin Smith(XLVI)

Martin Smith was Professor of Robotics at the Technology Innovation Centre (TIC) at Birmingham City University. He was one of the three judges on BBC2's and Nickelodeon's Robot Wars for 174 episodes from 1999 to 2001. In series 1 and 2 he was Team Captain of The Duellists having built the robot Cruella. The letters UEL were the initials of the University of East London where he worked as a lecturer at the time. He was the Technical Expert Presenter on Techno Games BBC2, hosted by Ulrika Jonsson (Series1), Jane Middlemiss (Series 2) and Phillipa Forrester (Series 3 and 4), on all 35 programs from 2000 to 2003. Other programs he appeared on were the BBC Great Egg Race as a contestant with his creation "Dreggster" a machine he built to accelerate in the fastest possible time carrying an egg using only the power of a standard rubber band provided by the the BBC. He appeared on "Put it to the Test" with Carol Vorderman broadcast in November 1996. "What's the Big Idea" with Suzi Perry in 2002. The "Big Breakfast" Channel Four 1997, BBC's "Tomorrows World Live at the NEC" in 1997, BBC1's "It'll Never Work" in 1997, the "Royal Institution Christmas Lectures" in 2000, BBC TV World Service in 1997, Channel 4's "Scrapheap Challenge " with Robert Llewellyn. He was the International Touring Lecturer for the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE, now the IET) from November 1996 to February 1999 presenting his lecture "Homo Sapiens to Robo Sapiens:- The Future of Artificial Life, Robots and Humans". He presented the lecture to 43 institutions including CERN (The European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva Switzerland. He was interviewed on several news broadcasts for the BBC and Sky.