After Dinner Speakers: Hermann Hauser, Yolanda Adams, Alistair Whitehead

Acorn was founded in 1978 and has been at the forefront of IT technology for about 20 years. The company is part of the "Cambridge phenomenon", a group of highly successful ttechnology start-ups with roots in the University’s historically renowned and newly entrepreneurial scientific community. Acorn was founded by physicist Hermann Hauser, who almost single-handedly jump-started the development of the UK’s "Silicon Fen", which has attracted the interest and investment capital of Hewlett-Packard, microsoft and other leading technology companies. Hermann Hauser has fostered 20 technology companies including: IQ (Bio), Harlequin, IXI Ltd, Active Book Company, EO Incorporated, Vocalis, SynGenix, Advanced Displays Limited, Electronic Share Information Limited. In 1984 Hauser was voted "Computer Personality of the Year" in Britain. In 1993 he founded Advanced Telecommunications Modules Limited (ATML) which designs, manufactures and distributes at low cost a new network technology system called ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode). This technology allows the exchange of voice, video and data on low cost PCs. During the following years, Acorn, the company he founded in 1978 during post-doctoral work in Cambridge, created the technological and market prototype for the NC, NetStation. Subsequently he founded NChannel Ltd in June 1996, the holding company, to begin work on marketing the NetStation. Since the creation of NetStation Ltd and NetChannel Europe, NChannel is expected to be superseded by the NetStation/NetChannel partnership. NetProducts Ltd was established in August 1996 to produce and distribute the NetStation, Britain’s first Network Computer. NetChannel was sold to AOL in 1998. In 1997 he co-founded Amadeus Capital Partners Ltd, a venture capital company, and in 1998 the Cambridge Network Ltd.