Pierre Bézier

Pierre Étienne Bézier (; 1 September 1910 – 25 November 1999) was a French engineer and one of the founders of the fields of solid, geometric and physical modelling as well as in the field of representing curves, especially in computer-aided design and manufacturing systems. He obtained a degree in mechanical engineering from the École nationale supérieure d'arts et métiers in 1930. He earned a second degree in electrical engineering in 1931 at the École supérieure d'électricité, and a doctorate in 1977 in mathematics from the Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University where he contributed to the study of parametric polynomial curves and their vector coefficients.

From 1968 to 1979 Bézier was Professor of Production Engineering at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers.

He wrote four books and numerous papers, and received several distinctions including the Steven Anson Coons Award from the Association for Computing Machinery and an honorary doctorate from Technische Universität Berlin. He was an honorary member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and of the Société Belge des Mécaniciens, president of the Société des Ingénieurs et Scientifiques de France, Société des Ingénieurs Arts et Metiers, and one of the first Advisory Editors of Computer-Aided Design magazine.

With his family's consent, the Solid Modeling Association established The Pierre Bézier Award for Solid, Geometric and Physical Modeling and Applications in 2007.

Bézier curve

Bézier popularized but did not actually create the Bézier curve—using such curves to design automobile bodies. The curves were first developed in 1959 by Paul de Casteljau using de Casteljau's algorithm, a numerically stable method to evaluate Bézier curves. The curves remain widely used in computer graphics to model smooth curves.

Bézier developed the notation, consisting of nodes with attached control handles, with which the curves are represented in computer software. The control handles define the shape of the curve on either side of the common node, and can be manipulated by the user, via the software.

In 1957, Bézier became Director of the Machine Tool Division, responsible for the automatic assembly of mechanical components and for the design and production of numerical control drilling and milling machines. Bézier began managing technical development at Renault in 1960. He retired from Renault in 1975.

CAD Bézier began researching CAD/CAM in 1960 while at Renault,