Browsing by Subject "Tompkins, Charles Brown, 1912-"
Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Item Oral history interview with Arnold A. Cohen(Charles Babbage Institute, 1987-07-02) Cohen, Arnold A.The interview focuses on Engineering Research Associates (ERA). Cohen begins the interview by briefly describing most of the early ERA personnel. He discusses his own work and that of C. B. Tompkins on various ERA projects including the Goldberg Project and the design of memory systems.Item Oral history interview with H. Dick Clover(Charles Babbage Institute, 1986-06-05) Clover, H. DickAfter briefly discussing his early life and education, Clover focuses on his work with Engineering Research Associates (ERA). Topics include: the work of C. B. Tompkins; Clover's association with Communication Supplementary Activities-Washington (CSAW); the relationship between CSAW and ERA; the formation of ERA; the roles of Howard Engstrom, Ralph Meader, John Parker, and John Howard in ERA; research on magnetic drums and disks; the relationship between Northwestern Aeronautical Corporation and ERA; and Clover's administrative work with the Navy contracts at ERA. Clover concludes the interview with a brief description of ERA under Remington Rand and Sperry Rand.Item Oral history interview with James Henry Wakelin, Jr.(Charles Babbage Institute, 1986-02-27) Wakelin, James HenryThe interview covers Wakelin's career, including his education, work at the Navy Department and Engineering Research Associates (ERA), and later consulting work. The first part of the interview reviews his education at Dartmouth, Cambridge, and Yale, and his first job at B.F. Goodrich. He discusses his work in the Navy department during World War II, where he was involved with their first use of modern computers. Through this Wakelin came in contact with William Norris and others who founded ERA. Wakelin discusses his own plans to establish a consulting company after the war and his decision to join ERA. He discusses his work in ERA's Washington D.C. office from 1945 to 1948, where he was primarily involved with securing Navy contracts. Other aspects about ERA in the late 1940s are discussed, including his relationships with John Parker, C. B. Tompkins, and others. He concludes with a review of his later work with a textile institute affiliated with Princeton.Item Oral history interview with Sidney Michel Rubens(Charles Babbage Institute, 1986-01) Rubens, Sidney MichelRubens 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.Item Oral history interview with William C. Norris(Charles Babbage Institute, 1986) Norris, William C., 1911-Norris was a founding vice president of Engineering Research Associates (ERA). He later became head of the Univac Division of the Remington Rand before founding and becoming president and chief executive officer of Control Data Corporation (CDC) in 1957. Norris begins by describing his employment before World War II, his civilian career with the Navy, and his commission in the Naval Reserve. He then discusses his work with Communications Supplementary Activities-Washington. Norris' description of the formation and operations of ERA comprise over half of the interview. Topics include: the roles of Howard Engstrom, John E. Parker, C. B. Tompkins, and Northwestern Aeronautical in the formation of ERA; the influence of the Whirlwind project; government contracts held by ERA; magnetic drums; and contract negotiations with James Birkenstock of International Business Machines. In the second half of the interview Norris discusses the ERA 1101, ERA 1102, and ERA 1103 computers, the acquisition of ERA by Remington Rand, the Univac File computer, his work as head of the Univac Division, and the formation of CDC.