CBE for Cambridge Judge alumnus Dr Eben Upton, who pioneered the Raspberry Pi handheld computer, in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Dr Eben Upton, an Executive MBA alumnus at Cambridge Judge Business School and pioneer of the Raspberry Pi bare-bones computer, has become a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for his services to Business and Education.
Eben shot to fame in 2012 as the inventor of the Raspberry Pi programmable credit card-sized computer and founder of the charity that oversees its development. The Raspberry Pi has proved popular with electronic enthusiasts, and children all over the world are using the device to get their first taste of computer coding.
In April 2016, the Pi became the most popular British computer ever made. More than eight million have been sold since the tiny device was launched in early 2012 while Eben was undertaking the Executive MBA at Cambridge Judge.
He embarked on the programme with the idea for the Raspberry Pi computer and the technical expertise, but the tools to move those forward were missing. The Executive MBA enabled him to develop the brand for the device, think about how to work with partners and how to deal with some of the challenges that come with being a not-for-profit organisation.