Computer Hero: ‘A Man Whose Vision Changed the World’

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Computer Hero: ‘A Man Whose Vision Changed the World’

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“The father of Supercomputing”

Background Cray Research Inc.

Cray-1

• Born September 28, 1925 in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, USA • Seymour had a fascination with electronics and electrical devices from

boyhood. His father was a civil engineer.• Following graduation from high school in 1943, he joined the US Army

serving in an infantry communications platoon.• After returning from the war, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in

Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1950, followed by a Masters degree in Applied Mathematics in 1951.

• Shortly thereafter, he joined a company called Engineering Research Associates (ERA).

• It was also here that he had the opportunity to design his first computer, the 1103.

Cray Research Inc.

• The legendary Seymour Cray, the "father of supercomputing," founded Cray Research. • In 1973 he powers up first Cray-1™ supercomputer.• It boasted a world-record speed of 160 million floating-point operations per second

(160 megaflops) and an 8 megabyte (1 million word) main memory.• Three years later he delivers first Cray-1 system (Los Alamos National

Laboratory), issues first public stock offering and receives first official customer order, The National Centre for Atmospheric Research.

• The Cray-1's architecture reflected its designer's technical hurdles with revolutionary ideas.

• The Cray-1 had a unique "C" shape which enabled integrated circuits to be closer together, thus increasing its speed.

• Cray developed an innovative refrigeration system using Freon.

Background Cray Research Inc.Start Quiz

• By 1970, Cray had been directly responsible for the design and development of the systems that were to shape the high performance computer industry for years to come…

• In 1972 Seymour was also was presented with the Harry H. Good Memorial Award for his contributions to large-scale computer design and the development of multiprocessing systems.

“All of Seymour’s systems were masterpieces of technology and aesthetic design. To Seymour, elegance of physical design was as important as reaching

the performance goals. In this area also he was unmatched by anyone.” Charles W. Breckenridge, Keynote Session at SC1996, 11/19/96

Cray-1Background Start Quiz

19201975 1925

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MathematicsEngineering Computer Science

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Cooling SystemSpeed C-Shape

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Harry H GoodC L Johnson D C Coleman

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Computer Hero: ‘A Man Whose Vision Changed the World’

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