Browsing by Subject "Electronic data processing consultants"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Oral history interview with Alice R. Burks and Arthur W. Burks
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1980-06-20) Burks, Arthur W. (Arthur Walter), 1915-; Burks, Alice R., 1920-
    Arthur Burks describes his work on the ENIAC and Institute for Advanced Study computers. He reviews his upbringing, education, and work experiences (mainly teaching) before joining the University of Pennsylvania Moore School of Electrical Engineering in 1941. He then discusses his associations with J. Presper Eckert, John Mauchly, John Brainerd, Herman Goldstine, and others and their work at the Moore School. Various aspects of the ENIAC project are discussed in detail: interactions of project members, division of tasks, decision making processes, patenting issues, initial operation, and von Neumann's association with the Moore School and the ENIAC and EDVAC projects. There is a general discussion concerning the classification of general versus special purpose computers and computers versus calculators. Patenting issues concerning the ENIAC project are given particular attention. The Burks discuss the dispersion of ENIAC and EDVAC personnel at the end of World War II. Burks recounts his move to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, his experiences there, and his consulting work with Burroughs prior to accepting a faculty position at the University of Michigan.
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    Oral history interview with Bernard A. Galler
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1991-08) Galler, Bernard A., 1928-
    In this wide-ranging interview, Galler describes the development of computer science at the University of Michigan from the 1950s through the 1980s and discusses his own work in computer science. Prominent subjects in Galler's description of his work at Michigan include: his arrival and classes with John Carr, research use of International Business Machines (IBM) and later Amdahl mainframe computers, the establishment of the Statistical Laboratory in the Mathematics Dept., the origin of the computer science curriculum and the Computer Science Dept. in the 1950s, interactions with Massachusetts Institute of Technology and IBM about timesharing in the 1960s, the development of the Michigan Algorithm Decoder, and the founding of the MERIT network. Galler also discusses Michigan's relationship with ARPANET, CSNET, and BITNET. He describes the atmosphere on campus in the 1960s and early 1970s and his various administrative roles at the university. Galler discusses his involvement with the Association for Computing Machinery, the American Federation of Information Processing Societies, the founding of the Charles Babbage Institute, and his work with the Annals of the History of Computing. He describes his consultative work with Israel and his consulting practice in general, his work as an expert witness, and his interaction with the Patent Office on issues surrounding the patenting of software and his role in the establishment of the Software Patent Institute.
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    Oral history interview with Isaac Levin Auerbach
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1992-10) Auerbach, Isaac L. (Isaac Levin), 1921-1992
    Auerbach begins by discussing friction between himself and J. Presper Eckert and his reasons for leaving Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation. He recounts the circumstances leading to his employment from 1949-1957 with the Burroughs Corporation, his relations with Irven Travis, who headed the computer department at Burroughs, and the formation of the Burroughs Research Laboratory. He describes a number of projects he managed at Burroughs, including computer equipment for the SAGE project, BEAM I computer, the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile System, a magnetic core encryption communications system, and a missile guidance computer used for the Atlas missile. Auerbach comments on his management of the Defense, Space and Special Products Division, the general management of Burroughs, and his decision to leave the company. Auerbach outlines the establishment of Auerbach Electronics (later Auerbach Associates), one of the first computer consulting firms, and describes his initial contacts with RCA (for the BMEWS system), Honeywell, Leeds and Northrup, and Hot Shoppes (Marriott). He describes the growth of the company and other ventures such as Standard Computer Corporation (computer leasing), International Systems (data processing system for parimutuel betting developed with George Skakel of Great Lakes Carbon Corporation), and Auerbach Publishers, a successful venture that became known for its computer product reviews. He describes his concern with military and government contracts, the sale of Auerbach Associates in 1976 to the Calculon Corporation, and his subsequent consulting activity. He concludes with a discussion of his work with the International Federation for Information Processing, the American Federation of Information Processing Societies, and his philanthropic work primarily in the Philadelphia area and Israel.
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    Oral history interview with Louis Fein
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1984-05-09) Fein, Louis
    Fein discusses his involvement in establishing computer science as an academic discipline. In 1955 he joined Stanford Research Institute (SRI) as a computer consultant and was asked by Frederick Terman and Albert Bowker to design a computation curriculum. He describes the difficulty in establishing computer science's autonomy from engineering programs. Fein also describes his contacts with the University of California - Berkeley, the University of North Carolina, Purdue, and other institutions. He recalls his presentation on computer science departments at the 1962 Munich meeting of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), and how his plans were accepted at many academic institutions throughout the U.S. and Europe. Fein concludes with his views on the future of computer science, which entail a name change to "synnoetics" and a corresponding conceptual redirection to the interaction among intelligent beings, including humans and computers.
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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.
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    Oral history interview with Stephen W. Dunwell
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1989-02-13) Dunwell, Steve, 1913-1994
    Dunwell describes the development of data processing equipment at International Business Machines in the mid-twentieth century. He discusses early data processing and cryptanalytic equipment before focusing on the development of computers following World War II. In this context, he describes IBM's Poughkeepsie Laboratory, John von Neumann's contributions as an IBM consultant, and the IBM 701 and STRETCH (7030) computers.
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    Oral history interview with Walter Leonard Anderson
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1986-09-11) Anderson, Walter L. (Walter Leonard), 1922-
    Anderson, who had been trained by the Navy at MIT and at the University of Minnesota, began working for ERA in 1946. He was hired by Joseph Walsh and worked with Howard Daniels, Frank Mullaney, and George Hardenbergh on engineering design problems. Anderson talks about a number of early design projects at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory, including design of a relay control circuit and a time delay scramble. He discusses the influence that Arnold Cohen had on him. In 1949 Anderson moved to the Arlington office where he worked until 1955. He worked with the sales office as a technical liaison under Herbert H. Goodman. He worked on development of UNIVAC and the 1100 series, and he discusses some of the applications that he was involved in assessing and the technological constraints of the time. Anderson was also a liaison between the Minnesota group and the Pennsylvania group, and he discusses projects in which he worked with John Coombs, William Norris, William Overn, William Butler, Robert Torrey, Ted Bonn, and Herb Rickards. He discusses the change in operations when ERA was changed from a subsidiary to a division of Remington Rand. Anderson also discusses the establishment of General Kinetics, Inc. with Robert Gutterman, Al Roberts, Frank McKutcheon, and William Goggins. The interview concludes with remarks on the nature of their early consulting work in mathematics, engineering, and the film industry.