Browsing by Subject "Computer storage devices -- Research"

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    Oral history interview with Hugh Duncan
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1986-08-14) Duncan, Hugh
    Duncan describes his engineering education and entrance into the Navy in World War II. He discusses his work at Communications Supplementary Activities-Washington and the events leading to the formation of Engineering Research Associates (ERA). Topics include: the introduction of John E. Parker to Howard Engstrom, Ralph Meader, and Norris by the financial brokerage firm of Auchincloss, Redpath, and Parker, the work of John Howard, the level of Navy involvement with ERA, research activities, especially regarding memory devices, and the management of the firm. Duncan reviews the management of the ERA and Eckert-Mauchly acquisitions by Remington Rand. He concludes with a comparison of the management techniques of Remington Rand and International Business Machines.
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    Oral history interview with Sidney Michel Rubens
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1986-01) Rubens, Sidney Michel
    Rubens discusses his career through his employment with Engineering Research Associates (ERA). He reviews his education in physics at the University of Washington, his work in ionization techniques, and his teaching position at UCLA beginning in 1937. In 1940, he joined the Naval Ordnance Laboratory, where he developed magnetic mine detection devices. There he met Howard Engstrom, Robert Gutterman, Howard Daniels, and William Norris. In 1945, under the sponsorship of the Office of Naval Research, this group formed ERA to continue their war-time work, and Rubens joined them in 1946. He first worked on magnetic techniques for computer storage as part of the Goldberg project, under the direction of John Coombs and C. B. Tompkins. Rubens discusses the magnetic tape equipment he used, some of which was war-time capture from German laboratories. He also discusses his contacts with the University of Minnesota computer center.