Professor Steve Furber of Manchester University can now add Commander of the British Empire (CBE) to his name. The award, given in theNew Year’s Honors list, marks his achievement in computer science, especially his role in helping create one of the world’s first home computers, the BBC Micro. Furber worked at Acorn, the machine makers, and was also important in developing the ARM processor, according to a BBC story. "I’ve been fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to do something interesting and have also been surrounded by very good people," he told BBC News. "[The CBE] camecompletely out of the blue, but obviously I’m delighted." After joining Acorn, the BBC Micro was one of his first projects. It was originally envisaged as a machine to help a BBC literaryprogram, with estimated sales of 12,000. That quickly turned into 1.5 million as it became an early home computer success story. However, that faded as new machines came along. The ARMprocessor, which arrived in 1985 is an ongoing triumph. Around 10 million are now sold daily, for everything from cell phones to mp3 players. Professor Furber is currently using them in theSpinnaker project, which aims to use computers to mimic the interactions of the human brain.
