Browsing by Subject "United States. -- Navy"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Oral history interview with Arnold A. Cohen
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1983) Cohen, Arnold A.
    Cohen provides information about relations of Engineering Research Associates with the Navy, and with Remington Rand management after their acquisition of ERA. He also describes ERA projects in detail. Specific topics include: early research on magnetic drum storage systems, reports to the National Bureau of Standards, the Atlas I project and the commercial by-product (the 1101), the Atlas II project and the commercial by-product (the 1103), the 1102 built for Arnold Engineering Development Center, the 1104 built for Westinghouse/BOMARC, the Remington Rand Tape-to-Card Converter, the File Computer, ERA non-computer projects, ERA's design contract with IBM and its relation to the IBM 650, UNIVAC II, and patents and their defensive use in litigation.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Oral history interview with Arnold Dumey
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1984-10-09) Dumey, Arnold
    The Dumey interview begins with a description of his work for the Army Signal Corps during World War II. He discusses the development of a system for comparing data for which Eastman Kodak supplied a contrast reversal film process and Reed Research a reading device. He also considers some of the problems inherent in working for a secret organization. In the post-war period, he focuses on the contractual work done by Engineering Research Associates for the Navy, emphasizing their engineering excellence and the leverage that their competitive position gave him in his negotiations for the Navy with IBM. He highlights the roles of John L. Hill and William Norris in ERA, and contrasts the ERA 1101 with the Standards Electronic Automatic Computer (SEAC). He concludes with a discussion of the obsolescence of electrostatic tube and delay-line memory devices with the introduction of magnetic cores.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Oral history interview with Dean Babcock
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1986-09-12) Babcock, Dean Frank
    After Babcock describes his early life, education and communications work in the Navy during World War II, the focus of the interview shifts to his work with Engineering Research Associates (ERA). Topics include: various ERA projects including Project Lime; the design of equipment at ERA; magnetic drum designs and capabilities; the work of Sidney Rubens and William Field on magnetic drums; and ERA's interaction with the Navy, especially during the Korean War.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Oral history interview with Edward C. Svendsen
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1986-09-16) Svendsen, Edward C.
    Svendsen begins with a description of his early life and education and a discussion of his work in the Navy during World War II. The bulk of the interview concerns the relationship between Engineering Research Associates and the Navy. Topics include: John Parker and the management of ERA; the work of Howard Engstrom, William Norris, Ralph Meader, John Howard, and Sid Rubens at ERA; and ERA's projects for the Navy.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Oral history interview with Frank C. Mullaney
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1986-06) Mullaney, Frank C.
    Mullaney begins by describing his early life, electrical engineering education, radar work in World War II with General Electric, and sonar work with the Navy. He discusses the various projects to which he was assigned at Engineering Research Associates (ERA), especially the Atlas (ERA 1101) computer. Other topics include the ERA 1102 and ERA 1103 computers, John L. Hill, the acquisition of ERA by Remington Rand, J. Presper Eckert, and the formation of Control Data Corporation.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Oral history interview with H. Dick Clover
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1986-06-05) Clover, H. Dick
    After 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.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    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.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Oral history interview with James T. Pendergrass
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1985-03-28) Pendergrass, James T.
    Pendergrass discusses his work in the Navy and the early use of computers there. He discusses his decoding and production work during the second world war, particularly on the Enigma project in which he used IBM, Kodak, and NCR equipment. After the war Pendergrass remained in the Navy and worked with Rear Admiral Leonard Winger and others in the Naval Security Group. Pendergrass reviews his computer training in 1946 at the University of Pennsylvania Moore School for Electrical Engineering and his subsequent work for the Navy with Engineering Research Associates, the Institute for Advanced Study, and IBM. He concludes with a discussion of his Navy work on the Atlas project and advances in computer technology in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Oral history interview with John E. Parker
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1986) Parker, John E., 1900-1989
    Parker discusses his career: his years in the Navy, acquisition of Porterfield Aviation Company, start-up of Northwestern Aeronautical Corporation, and especially the formation of Engineering Research Associates (ERA). Parker explains how his business brought him to St. Paul and into contact with the Navy, and how the Navy approached him to direct a new research company, ERA, to continue war-time work done for the Navy. Parker recalls his meetings with key ERA personnel, including William Norris, Ralph Meader, and Howard Engstrom. ERA's entry into computing is discussed, including contracts in 1948 with the Navy, Air Force, and National Bureau of Standards and negotiations in 1949 with IBM over a magnetic drum design. Parker recalls ERA's sale to Remington Rand in 1950 and mentions the 1950 publication of High-Speed Computing Devices. Parker's period as Vice President for Sales at Remington Rand and Sperry is the focus of the last third of the interview. From 1952 to 1956 he and his staff sought to expand the number of computers sold and to integrate sales of all types of automatic machines. In the second part of the interview Parker continues his discussion of ERA's relationships with other computer manufacturers including ERA's magnetic drum design agreement with IBM in 1950. Parker also discusses the acquisition and assimilation of ERA by Remington Rand, ERA's relationship with the Eckert-Mauchly Division of Remington Rand, and his own disaffection with Sperry Corporation's deemphasis on commercial computer sales after they acquired Remington Rand in 1955. Much of the interview concerns Parker's activities as head of the Electronic Computer Sales Department of Remington Rand.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Oral history interview with Margaret R. Fox
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1984-04-13) Fox, Margaret R.
    Fox describes how her Navy service in World War II led to a career in computing. She discusses the negotiations between the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation and the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), as an agent for the Bureau of the Census, over the completion of the first UNIVAC computer, and the development at NBS of SEAC and SWAC. Fox recounts her involvement in the National Joint Computer Committee which led to her work in the American Federation of Information Processing Societies (AFIPS) and describes the role of AFIPS in the International Information Processing Conference in Paris in 1959.