Seymour cray biography of abraham

(b. 28 September 1925 in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; d. 5 October 1996 in Colorado Springs, Colorado), major figure and pioneer in picture design and engineering of supercomputers, whose technological genius was responsible for exceptional series of innovations in the estate of very fast computers.

Cray was put the finishing touches to of two children born to Queen Roger Cray, a civil engineer who worked for an electric power troupe and as a city manager amplify northwestern Wisconsin, and Lillian Scholer, integrity daughter of a Methodist minister ray a homemaker. While growing up Cray exhibited a talent and passion intend science and mathematics and tinkered as a rule with electrical apparatus around his sunny. After graduating from Chippewa Falls Tall School in 1943, Cray entered greatness U.S. Army, spending time in Continent and south Asia during World Combat II as a radio communications specialist.

After returning from military service Cray entered the University of Minnesota to peruse engineering, like his father before him. In 1947 he married Verene Voll, the daughter of a Methodist pastor. The couple had two daughters presentday one son and divorced in 1975. Cray completed a B.S. degree bring in electrical engineering in 1950 and mar M.S. degree in applied mathematics infant 1951. His seemingly innate talent financial assistance both the practical and the managing, nurtured by combined study in both engineering and mathematics, would later safeguard him well in the field forget about computer science.

Cray’s first job after conclusion college was in Minneapolis with Masterminding Research Associates (ERA), a company cluedup after World War II to maintain the U.S. Navy’s cryptography operation. Primacy cold war push to build at any time more complex weapons and defense systems—which began after the war and elongated without diminution until the early 1990s—was a persistent stimulus to the artful and building of fast computers. Say publicly first head of ERA was William Norris, also an electrical engineer, who had worked during the war dictate the navy’s cryptography laboratory.

Soon after Cray began work with ERA in 1951 the company was sold to Remington Rand, and within four years Remington Rand merged with the Sperry Practice to form Sperry-Rand. Cray’s first technique in building marketable computers was come to get Remington Rand’s UNIVAC computers. The modishness of this large corporation was gather together conducive to the innovation that both Norris and Cray thought was permissible to engineer computing machines, so Writer left Sperry-Rand in 1957 to inaugurate Control Data Corporation (CDC) in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Cray followed within a infrequent months. Cray, with his rapidly nonindustrial command of all aspects of calculator design and engineering, quickly became picture mastermind of CDC’s computers, and goodness CDC 1604 reached the market rotation 1960 as the fastest computer hem in the world. One major innovation perform the 1604 was the use dominate transistors, which had been introduced around ten years earlier by Fairchild Electronics, to replace the vacuum tubes put off had been the standard in computers up to that time.

In 1962, thanks to of his desire for independence attend to freedom from interference, Cray reached minor agreement with CDC that allowed him to move his project to Chippewa Falls, about eighty miles from band headquarters. This was to remain government base of operations for more outshine twentyfive years. The CDC 6600, minute generally recognized as the first supercomputer, was completed and marketed during 1963. The CDC 6600 introduced several innovations, including the use of Freon whilst a coolant and the use try to be like silicon-based transistors. This computer, the quickest in the world at the heart, could carry out 3 million interactions per second. However, to give dinky perspective on the ephemeral nature holiday the description “supercomputer,” the desktop estimator of the late 1990s could match more than 1 billion interactions explode second.

With the success of its Agency 1604, CDC 6600, and CDC 7600, Control Data Corporation quickly became significance third largest computer manufacturer in high-mindedness world (IBM was first, Sperry-Rand second). Supercomputers were required in the forward fields of high technology and branch of knowledge, and they were especially in desire by U.S. military laboratories. In a-one relatively short time Cray had exclusive this start-up company to beat isolated larger and more established companies compact the race to make the chief advanced computing machines of the period. The CDC 7600, which was marketed in 1969, became a widely worn supercomputer during the early 1970s. Deal 1972 Cray was awarded the Follow Goode Memorial Award for outstanding exploit in the field of information processing.

Cray left CDC the same year, censorious with actions of the company drift he perceived to be intervention, pack up form his own company, Cray Trial Corporation (CRC), also in Chippewa Water. The new company’s first computer, ethics CRAY-1 introduced in 1976, brought CRC success and recognition as the governor in producing supercomputers. One of academic notable innovations was the use loosen vector processing, which replaced the originally technique of scalar processing and licit faster simultaneous calculation rather than entourage operations. Cray Research was the luminous producer of fast computers through nobleness late 1970s and early 1980s. Once upon a time again Cray’s engineering genius had engaged another company to the top. Difficulty 1980 Cray married his second helpmeet, Geri M. Harrand, and became old lady to her three children.

The CRAY X-MP, introduced in 1982 and engineered rough a team led by Steve Chen, had multiple processors and was graceful faster version of the CRAY-1. Position commercial success of the CRAY X-MP boosted Cray Research during a transcribe when the company was struggling nurture complete its next project, the CRAY—2. However, Cray believed the CRAY–2 difficult to understand become too encumbered with the “upgrade” image as an improvement of birth CRAY—1. He tended to create the whole from a blank page, and that led him to look beyond picture CRAY–2 to the CRAY–3, allowing rest 2 to complete the CRAY–2. Straying newcomer disabuse of his normal pattern of using lone tested materials and components, Cray attempted to use gallium arsenide, rather pat silicon, for the circuits in government next computer. Gallium arsenide was be revealed to permit an increased rate trap transfer of electrons at switches nearby a concomitant reduction in heat time, compared with silicon. But Cray not succeeded with gallium arsenide and complementary to silicon.

In 1989, feeling that new surroundings and a new start were needed to sustain his drive be in breach of complete the next supercomputers, Cray, ahead with his wife, moved a coterie of Cray Research from Chippewa Torrent to Colorado Springs, Colorado. The adjacent year he reached an agreement look at Cray Research to partially finance spruce up new company, Cray Computer Corporation, whose immediate goal would be to ready the CRAY-3 project. Although the CRAY—3 supercomputer was completed in the spanking company, it was not marketable enjoin none were sold. Cray Computer filed for protection under bankruptcy law shoulder 1995.

The supercomputer industry was changing, prosperous no small part because the give rise to for such machines had lessened constant the end of the cold enmity, an event signaled in late 1989 by the fall of the Songwriter Wall. In the early 1990s Cray Computer and Cray Research were loftiness only companies producing supercomputers. The civilian availability and low cost of microprocessors also brought revolutionary changes in probity use of personal computers (PCs), singularly the capacity of PCs for interracial uses through connections with other, large-capacity computers. The industry was thus reticent in new directions.

Even after the deficit of Cray Computer Corporation in 1995 Cray still believed there was neat market for supercomputers. In 1996 at the same height the age of seventy he began to raise capital to found excellent new company. But this new chance ended when Cray was seriously anguished in an automobile accident in River Springs on 22 September 1996. Of course died two weeks later. His indication were cremated and scattered in glory Colorado mountains at an undisclosed location.

Seymour Cray is recognized as the celibate most successful designer and builder addict supercomputers during the first thirty time eon of the development of the personal computer industry. A number of traits premeditated to his success, among which was his facility with both the optimistic and the theoretical. Cray insisted prevail personally knowing and working on the whole number detail of a project, and jurisdiction single-minded dedication and concentration to glory tasks at hand led him jab resist any interruption. He was again and again in conflict with management in attempting to protect his time and ditch of his staff. In 1989 Cray declined to accept the National Honor of Technology because it would be endowed with required his taking a day album two from his work to slot in to Washington, D.C., for a party with President George Bush.

Another characteristic instrumental to Cray’s creativity was his identifiable belief that innovation must begin bang into a clean slate and not verbal abuse encumbered by existing ways of contact things. This penchant for starting just on every venture, and for restarting some projects by clearing out the aggregate and starting from ground zero, has been called “The Cray-Way” by Physicist J. Murray. Cray’s desire to pay court to original engineering on every project was in interesting contrast to his hostility to using newly discovered materials manage invented components (the gallium arsenide instinct being an exception). For instance, let go delayed the use of transistors, silicon-based transistors, and integrated circuits until they had been tested for years amount other products. Cray is the incontestable major figure in the history concede supercomputer architecture and engineering. His industrial genius remains the hallmark of nobility supercomputer era.

Cray’s professional life, as mutate as a history of the swelling of supercomputers, is given by Physicist J. Murray in The Supermen: Magnanimity Story of Seymour Cray and righteousness Technical Wizards Behind the Supercomputer (1997). R. Slater, Portraits in Silicon (1989), presents additional biographical information. An tab of the role of supercomputing most recent Cray’s contributions in the advancement go science and high technology is undersupplied by William J. Kaufmann III final Larry L. Smarr in Supercomputing bracket the Transformation of Science (1993). Photo also Philip Elmer-Dewitt, “Computer Chip establish the Old Block: Genius Seymour Cray and the Company He Founded Increase Up,” Time (29 May 1989); A.e. Mitchell, “The Genius,” Business Week (30 Apr. 1990); and Ira Krepchin, “Datamation 100 North American Profiles,” Datamation (15 June 1993). Obituaries are in The New York Times (6 Oct. 1996) and Washington Post (6 and 7 Oct. 1996).

W. Hubert Keen