Rate My Professor Richard Bowden

Professor Richard Bowden serves as Professor of Computer Vision and Machine Learning at the University of Surrey, where he leads the Cognitive Vision Group within the Centre for Vision Speech and Signal Processing in the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences. He obtained his BSc in Computer Science from the University of London in 1993, an MSc with distinction from the University of Leeds in 1995, and a PhD in Computer Vision from Brunel University in 1999, earning the Sullivan Doctoral Thesis Prize for the best UK thesis in the field. Bowden's career at Surrey began in 2001 as Lecturer in Multimedia Signal Processing, progressing to Senior Lecturer (2006-2008), Reader (2008-2011), and Professor. He has held leadership roles including Associate Dean for Postgraduate Research, Postgraduate Research Director (2015-2016), and Associate Dean of the Doctoral College (2016-2018). Earlier, he lectured in Image Processing at Brunel University (1998-2001) and was a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Oxford (2001-2004).

Bowden's research interests encompass computer vision and machine learning applications for human-centric tasks, including sign language processing (recognition, translation, production), lip-reading, action and gesture recognition, object tracking, autonomous vehicle control via deep learning and sensor fusion, and cognitive robotics. With over 200 peer-reviewed publications, key works include the book Deep Learning for Autonomous Vehicle Control: Algorithms, State-of-the-Art, and Future Prospects (Synthesis Lectures, 2019), "Signing at Scale: Learning to Co-Articulate Signs" (CVPR 2022), and "Progressive Transformers for End-to-End Sign Language Production" (ECCV 2020). He has attracted over 40 grants from UKRI, EU, and industry sources. Bowden co-founded Signapse AI Ltd., serving as Chief Scientist, which won Spinout Company of the Year (Surrey Business Awards 2022). His honors include Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship (2013), IAPR Fellowship (2016), BMVA Distinguished Fellowship (2021), Surrey AI Fellowship (2021), and multiple best paper awards (e.g., ICRA 2022, ChaLearn 2022). As former Associate Editor for IEEE TPAMI and Image and Vision Computing, and chairs of BMVC 2012 and others, his influence extends through program committees for ICCV, CVPR, and ECCV, with exhibits at science museums and media recognition.