In X-Men: Days of Future Past, the scientist who creates the Sentinels is Bolivar Trask.
Trask develops the Sentinel program in the 1970s, arguing that mutants pose a growing danger to humanity. His research leads to robots designed to identify and fight mutants, although the later adaptive Sentinels become a threat to humans as well.
Peter Dinklage plays Bolivar Trask. The character’s death at the hands of Mystique becomes a turning point because it prompts governments to use her DNA in the Sentinel program, giving the machines the ability to adapt to mutant powers.
The film’s Sentinels differ from the original comic-book versions in design and origin. The movie combines the 1973 prototypes with the more advanced machines seen in the dystopian future.