Richard Pavelle, Ph.D.

Selected Specialties: consumer products, electrochemical processes, gaming, hand-held electronic devices, invention and patent development, mathematical software & licensing

Named "One of 50 R&D Stars to Watch" by Industry Week magazine, Richard Pavelle is an applied mathematician, physicist, computer scientist, and inventor who creates unique products from a knowledge of current technology and a projection of future technological trends.

He holds a Ph.D. in mathematical physics (General Relativity) from the University of London and an undergraduate degree in physics from Columbia University. Dr. Pavelle has published more than 50 articles, given 200 presentations and has more than 20 patents issued and pending. He is an author of the Scientific American article entitled Computer Algebra.

On the research staff at MIT at the Laboratory for Computer Science and Lincoln Laboratory, Dr. Pavelle was a coauthor of MACSYMA and advocate of Computer Algebra systems. He was the first scientist to apply these techniques to solve intractable mathematical problems in science, engineering, defense systems and finance. He created the first computer algebra system capable of performing indicial tensor calculus. He was the motivating force, and the leader in the first successful business venture based upon this technology that is now an $80M business worldwide involving dozens of companies.

Dr. Pavelle's areas of patent interest include automotive accessories, electrochemical processes, electronic consumer devices, golf, jewelry using modern technology, medical devices, puzzles and sports-related devices. One particular patent, the credit card calculator, has resulted in sales exceeding $100M. Dr. Pavelle has received awards from Casio Computer Co. Ltd., Sharp Computer Corporation and Canon Corp. for outstanding innovation on this patent.

He also has patents on golf club faces from 1974 that taught the concept of expanded sweet-spot, now used by all manufacturers of golf clubs. Recent patents involve new types of polarized sunglasses and electrochemical process patents that will lead to large reductions in the charging times for batteries.

Anecdotes from Dr. Pavelle

"We had been discussing another invention with the president of a New York bank and, as an aside, we asked him whether his bank would offer, as a premium, a thin calculator embedded within a checkbook. His reaction was so positive that my partner and I went home that night and built one. We took a standard calculator, ripped out the guts and embedded them on a thin PC board. We took these components and embedded them into a plastic check-register holder, and we had our one-hour invention. Unfortunately, at that time, solar cells did not have the power to run a calculator, and battery technology was expensive so that several attempts to build a company about the technology failed. It was not until several years later that Casio, Sharp, and Canon licensed our technology for their respective versions of the credit card calculators. Sales resulting from this patent have exceeded $100M."

"Shortly after I received my Ph.D., I received two patents on golf club designs. These were the first patents that taught the principle of minimizing the spin imparted to the ball by the golf club face by employing heavy metal inserts in the head. Poor legal advice led me to pursue design patents rather than utility patents that would have had a financial impact for me from the makers of all modern golf clubs."

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