Unix pipelines and software componentry were developed by Douglas McIlroy (Applied and Engineering Physics, B.S., 1954). His pioneering work in component-based software engineering was developed when he was head of the research department at Bell Laboratories. His seminal work on software componentization makes him a pioneer of component-based software engineering and software product line engineering.
McIlroy is featured in Peter Adams’s Faces of Open Source project, which features notable and unsung heroes of the open source revolution.