John Lazar (engineer)

Sir John Lazar CBE FREng FBCS
Nationality	British
Known for	Engineering, business and investing
Board member of	Raspberry Pi Foundation

Sir John Wilfred Lazar CBE FREng FBCS (born March 1959) is a British investor, engineer and businessman [1] who is the current president of the Royal Academy of Engineering.[2][3] He spent much of his career at Metaswitch, where he served as chairman and CEO, after starting at the company as a software engineer.

He received his CBE in 2016 for services to engineering. Lazar currently serves as the chairman for the Raspberry Pi Foundation and co-founder & General Partner at Enza Capital.[4]

Education and career

Lazar graduated in Computer science from the University of the Witwatersrand and then completed an MSc in that subject and a DPhil in History at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.[5]

He began his career in 1987 at Metaswitch, rising through the company and becoming its CEO in 2009,[6] and then chairman in 2015. Metaswitch was an innovator in the Voice over IP and softswitches industries.[7] While serving as its CEO, Metaswitch opened a new technology facility at Cambridge University.[8] Metaswitch built a strong relationship with AT&T as a leader of network virtualization,[9] and also launched the Project Calico, an open source project.[10]

Since leaving his roles at Metaswitch, Lazar has focused heavily on investing in both UK technology companies and also African-based startups through Enza Capital.[11][12] He also works closely with a number of institutions to support competitions for African startups and engineering innovations.[13][14] Lazar has also spoken at various summits about the future of engineering.[15][16] In 2020 he became the chair of the board for the Raspberry Pi Foundation.[17]

Recognition

In 2016 Lazar was honoured with a CBE for his services to the engineering industry.[18] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2011 and in February 2024 the Academy announced his nomination as its Presidential candidate for election by Fellows at the September 2024 AGM.[5] His appointment was confirmed and he began his five year term on 17 September 2024.[2]

References

1. "John Wilfred Lazar personal appointments". Companies House. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
2. "Dr John Lazar confirmed as President of the Royal Academy of Engineering". Retrieved 18 September 2024.
3. "A network for change". Ingenia. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
4. "About the Company". Enza Capital.
5. "John Lazar announced as RAEng Presidential candidate". The Engineer. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
6. "MetaSwitch Appoints John Lazar as CEO for both Carrier and Network Protocols Divisions". Metaswitch. April 7, 2009.
7. Kene-Okafor, Tage (December 13, 2023). "Ex-Metaswitch CEO John Lazar joins Copia's board as the Kenyan e-commerce outfit rakes in $20M to push toward profitability". TechCrunch.
8. Quested, Tony. "Transatlantic business opens Cambridge base". Cambridge Business Weekly.
9. Rachel, King (December 16, 2014). "AT&T to Virtualize 75% of its Network by 2020". Wall Street Journal.
10. "Metaswitch opens NFV code as Project Calico". The Register. July 10, 2014.
11. Kene-Okafor, Tage. "African VC firm Enza Capital launches founder partner program as it closes $58M across funds". TechCrunch.
12. Evans, Peter (October 7, 2018). "Q&A with angel investor John Lazar". The Times.
13. "EBE graduate wins the prestigious Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation". University of Cape Town. June 11, 2019.
14. "Smart meds dispenser wins RAEng Africa Prize". The Engineer.
15. Excell, Jon. "Global engineering gathering to explore humanity's most pressing challenges". The Engineer.
16. Staton, Bethan (January 30, 2023). "The growing tensions around spinouts at British universities". Financial Times.
17. Colligan, Philip. "New Chair and Trustees of the Raspberry Pi Foundation". Raspberry Pi Foundation.
18. "Fellows recognised in this year's Birthday Honours List". Royal Society of Arts. August 22, 2016.