Browsing by Subject "Electric engineering -- Study and teaching (Higher)"

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    Oral history interview with Bernard More Oliver
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1986) Oliver, Bernard M., 1916-
    The interview covers Oliver's early life, education, and work experiences at Bell Laboratories and Hewlett-Packard. Oliver began his formal education at California Institute of Technology at the age of fifteen and transferred to Stanford University for his junior and senior years to study electrical engineering with Frederick Terman. There he became associated with William Hewlett and David Packard. After receiving his degree in 1935 he returned to California Institute of Technology for graduate work, from which he joined Bell Laboratories in 1939. His initial assignment there was in the television research group under Axel Hansen. During World War II he worked at Bell on radar. Later he continued his work in television technology and worked with Claude Shannon on information theory. He discusses the organizational climate and objectives at Bell Laboratories in the 1940s and compares it to Hewlett-Packard, which he joined in 1950 as Director of Research. Many aspects of Hewlett-Packard are discussed: vertical integration, distribution of projects, company structure, competitors, associations with Stanford University, military contracts, and recruiting issues. Oliver concludes the interview by discussing his associations with William Hewlett, David Packard, and others at Hewlett-Packard Corporation.
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    Oral history interview with Erwin Tomash
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1983-05-15) Tomash, Erwin
    Tomash discusses his career, including employment at Engineering Research Associates (ERA) and the founding of Dataproducts Corporation. He begins with his electrical engineering education at the University of Minnesota in the early 1940s and his subsequent entry into the Army Signal Corps as a radar specialist. He recounts his initial task at ERA, conducting research for High-Speed Computing Devices. He surveys ERA's work with the predecessors of the National Security Agency and other government offices, and the company's expansion and move to the forefront of computer technology in the early 1950s. He describes changes in the company and his own move into management when the company was sold to Remington Rand in 1953. Tomash recalls his departure in l956 from Remington Rand to Telemeter Magnetics, where he soon became president. This company manufactured core memory systems and one of the first successful transistor memory systems. Tomash explains how he used the organization he and others had assembled from Telemeter Magnetics to found Dataproducts Corporation in 1962.
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    Oral history interview with John Lindsay Hill
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1986-01) Hill, John L. (John Lindsay), 1909-
    The interview primarily concerns Hill's years at Engineering Research Associates, but his formative years and employment at 3M Corporation are also included. The first part of the interview concerns his family history, upbringing, and education, primarily in electronics, at Rochester Institute of Technology. After his graduation in 1930 Hill worked for General Railroad and from 1934 to 1946 for 3M. In the l930s he became interested in radio technology, a skill used during World War II by the Air Force. The majority of the interview concerns his years at ERA beginning in 1946. Many aspects of his work at ERA are discussed: tape-splicing activities, the Goldberg project, development of magnetic recording, the Demon project, the Atlas project, and interactions with Navy personnel. Particular attention is given to interactions among ERA staff in a government classified environment. In the second session Hill further describes his years at ERA and Ramsey Engineering. He offers additional technical detail about the Demon and Atlas projects at ERA in an attempt to articulate ERA's design philosophy, and describes the work routine during these projects. He next turns to several commercial projects, notably the Speed Tally project for John Plain Company (Chicago) and the American Airlines project conducted jointly by ERA and Automatic Electric. Hill discusses the acquisition of ERA by Remington Rand, how his own role changed after the acquisition, and notes specific problems with sales operations and the increase in bureaucracy. Conflicts with J. Presper Eckert are also mentioned. The last part of the interview concerns his employment at Ramsey Engineering from 1956 to 1976.
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    Oral history interview with Robert Emmett McDonald
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1982-12-16) McDonald, Robert Emmett
    McDonald focuses on early computing activities at Remington Rand after discussing his own career: his undergraduate education in electrical engineering and business at the University of Minnesota and his graduate work at Iowa State and the University of Chicago; his years during the Second World War in the Navy; and his employment with Northwest and Braniff airlines before joining Remington Rand's computer operations in 1953. McDonald discusses at length the Remington Rand organization: business strategies, upper level management, marketing, allocation of resources, product development, and the decentralized nature of operations. The differences between commercial and government projects and the tensions between two divisions of the Remington Rand, Eckert-Mauchly and Engineering Research Associates, are also discussed. McDonald mentions the efforts of Charles Green of Sperry, who tried to integrate ERA into the Sperry-Rand organization after the Sperry merger with Remington Rand. He mentions the influence of outside consultants on Remington Rand and IBM, and the influence of ex-IBMers on the Sperry Rand organization. He concludes by contrasting Remington Rand and IBM.