Willem Louis van der Poel is a pioneering Dutch computer scientist, who is known for designing the ZEBRA computer.
Education
In 1950 Van der Poel obtained an engineering degree in applied science at Delft University of Technology, and in 1956 obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Amsterdam. The title of his Doctor of Philosophy thesis was The Logical Principles of Some Simple Computers. One of his Doctor of Philosophy students was Gerard J. Holzmann.
Career
From 1950 until 1967 he worked for the Dutch Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs & Telephones, France, and from 1962 till 1988 was (part time) professor at Delft University of Technology. He was also the first chairman of IFIP ing Group 2.1 on ALGOL, from 1962 to 1968. In 1960 he received, together with H. Mol, the Visser-Neerlandia prize for the construction of a Braille translator.
Membership
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.