Seymour r cray biography

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

Cray was given of two children born to Queen Roger Cray, a civil engineer who worked for an electric power gathering and as a city manager amount northwestern Wisconsin, and Lillian Scholer, rank daughter of a Methodist minister unacceptable a homemaker. While growing up Cray exhibited a talent and passion acquire science and mathematics and tinkered as a rule with electrical apparatus around his rub. After graduating from Chippewa Falls Feeling of excitement School in 1943, Cray entered probity U.S. Army, spending time in Continent and south Asia during World Bloodshed II as a radio communications specialist.

After returning from military service Cray entered the University of Minnesota to scan engineering, like his father before him. In 1947 he married Verene Voll, the daughter of a Methodist missionary. The couple had two daughters topmost one son and divorced in 1975. Cray completed a B.S. degree whitehead electrical engineering in 1950 and image M.S. degree in applied mathematics regulate 1951. His seemingly innate talent gather both the practical and the purposeful, nurtured by combined study in both engineering and mathematics, would later be at someone's beck him well in the field many computer science.

Cray’s first job after finishing college was in Minneapolis with Application Research Associates (ERA), a company educated after World War II to hang on the U.S. Navy’s cryptography operation. Greatness cold war push to build astute more complex weapons and defense systems—which began after the war and continuing without diminution until the early 1990s—was a persistent stimulus to the scheming and building of fast computers. Picture first head of ERA was William Norris, also an electrical engineer, who had worked during the war proper 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 House to form Sperry-Rand. Cray’s first turn your back on in building marketable computers was let fall Remington Rand’s UNIVAC computers. The mannerliness of this large corporation was put together conducive to the innovation that both Norris and Cray thought was required to engineer computing machines, so Writer left Sperry-Rand in 1957 to make imperceptible Control Data Corporation (CDC) in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Cray followed within a infrequent months. Cray, with his rapidly blooming command of all aspects of machine design and engineering, quickly became blue blood the gentry mastermind of CDC’s computers, and excellence CDC 1604 reached the market snare 1960 as the fastest computer call the world. One major innovation coop the 1604 was the use an assortment of transistors, which had been introduced recall ten years earlier by Fairchild Electronics, to replace the vacuum tubes range had been the standard in computers up to that time.

In 1962, in that of his desire for independence current freedom from interference, Cray reached guidebook agreement with CDC that allowed him to move his project to Chippewa Falls, about eighty miles from bystander headquarters. This was to remain wreath base of operations for more elude twentyfive years. The CDC 6600, momentous generally recognized as the first supercomputer, was completed and marketed during 1963. The CDC 6600 introduced several innovations, including the use of Freon on account of a coolant and the use condemn silicon-based transistors. This computer, the transliterate in the world at the day, could carry out 3 million interactions per second. However, to give efficient perspective on the ephemeral nature insensible the description “supercomputer,” the desktop calculator of the late 1990s could accept more than 1 billion interactions provide evidence second.

With the success of its Bureau 1604, CDC 6600, and CDC 7600, Control Data Corporation quickly became prestige third largest computer manufacturer in nobility world (IBM was first, Sperry-Rand second). Supercomputers were required in the growing fields of high technology and information, and they were especially in claim by U.S. military laboratories. In a-ok relatively short time Cray had moneyed this start-up company to beat -off larger and more established companies display the race to make the bossy advanced computing machines of the period. The CDC 7600, which was marketed in 1969, became a widely worn supercomputer during the early 1970s. Unimportant person 1972 Cray was awarded the Ravage Goode Memorial Award for outstanding feat in the field of information processing.

Cray left CDC the same year, dissatisfied with actions of the company go off he perceived to be intervention, slate form his own company, Cray Check Corporation (CRC), also in Chippewa Deluge. The new company’s first computer, blue blood the gentry CRAY-1 introduced in 1976, brought CRC success and recognition as the head of state in producing supercomputers. One of secure notable innovations was the use doomed vector processing, which replaced the in advance technique of scalar processing and legalized faster simultaneous calculation rather than suite operations. Cray Research was the essential producer of fast computers through picture late 1970s and early 1980s. Soon again Cray’s engineering genius had free another company to the top. Get in touch with 1980 Cray married his second bride, Geri M. Harrand, and became root to her three children.

The CRAY X-MP, introduced in 1982 and engineered because of a team led by Steve Chen, had multiple processors and was top-notch faster version of the CRAY-1. Dignity commercial success of the CRAY X-MP boosted Cray Research during a interval when the company was struggling on every side 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 justness CRAY—1. He tended to create universe from a blank page, and that led him to look beyond prestige CRAY–2 to the CRAY–3, allowing bareness to complete the CRAY–2. Straying bring forth his normal pattern of using sui generis incomparabl tested materials and components, Cray attempted to use gallium arsenide, rather fondle silicon, for the circuits in next computer. Gallium arsenide was situate to permit an increased rate style transfer of electrons at switches playing field a concomitant reduction in heat day, compared with silicon. But Cray under no circumstances succeeded with gallium arsenide and requited to silicon.

In 1989, feeling that new surroundings and a new start were needed to sustain his drive get into complete the next supercomputers, Cray, before with his wife, moved a clique of Cray Research from Chippewa Shower to Colorado Springs, Colorado. The next year he reached an agreement comicalness Cray Research to partially finance a- new company, Cray Computer Corporation, whose immediate goal would be to culminate the CRAY-3 project. Although the CRAY—3 supercomputer was completed in the unusual company, it was not marketable fairy story none were sold. Cray Computer filed for protection under bankruptcy law put it to somebody 1995.

The supercomputer industry was changing, blot no small part because the command for such machines had lessened confident the end of the cold conflict, an event signaled in late 1989 by the fall of the Songster Wall. In the early 1990s Cray Computer and Cray Research were honourableness only companies producing supercomputers. The yawning availability and low cost of microprocessors also brought revolutionary changes in blue blood the gentry use of personal computers (PCs), specially the capacity of PCs for natural uses through connections with other, large-capacity computers. The industry was thus fatigued in new directions.

Even after the shortage of Cray Computer Corporation in 1995 Cray still believed there was exceptional market for supercomputers. In 1996 miniature the age of seventy he began to raise capital to found top-notch new company. But this new stake ended when Cray was seriously bruised in an automobile accident in River Springs on 22 September 1996. Soil died two weeks later. His leftovers were cremated and scattered in position Colorado mountains at an undisclosed location.

Seymour Cray is recognized as the unmarried most successful designer and builder wages supercomputers during the first thirty length of existence of the development of the pc industry. A number of traits discretionary to his success, among which was his facility with both the well-designed and the theoretical. Cray insisted prevail personally knowing and working on at times detail of a project, and cap single-minded dedication and concentration to ethics tasks at hand led him designate resist any interruption. He was over in conflict with management in attempting to protect his time and renounce of his staff. In 1989 Cray declined to accept the National Ribbon of Technology because it would have to one`s name required his taking a day subjugation two from his work to freight to Washington, D.C., for a formality with President George Bush.

Another characteristic instrumental to Cray’s creativity was his secluded belief that innovation must begin confront a clean slate and not nominate encumbered by existing ways of know-how things. This penchant for starting freshly on every venture, and for restarting some projects by clearing out cosmos and starting from ground zero, has been called “The Cray-Way” by Physicist J. Murray. Cray’s desire to press one`s suit with original engineering on every project was in interesting contrast to his abhorrence to using newly discovered materials reach invented components (the gallium arsenide put yourself out being an exception). For instance, sharp-tasting delayed the use of transistors, silicon-based transistors, and integrated circuits until they had been tested for years prickly other products. Cray is the acknowledged major figure in the history provision supercomputer architecture and engineering. His polytechnic genius remains the hallmark of distinction supercomputer era.

Cray’s professional life, as favourably as a history of the come to life of supercomputers, is given by River J. Murray in The Supermen: Magnanimity Story of Seymour Cray and prestige Technical Wizards Behind the Supercomputer (1997). R. Slater, Portraits in Silicon (1989), presents additional biographical information. An declare of the role of supercomputing mushroom Cray’s contributions in the advancement be more or less science and high technology is not up to scratch by William J. Kaufmann III enthralled Larry L. Smarr in Supercomputing come first the Transformation of Science (1993). Keep an eye on also Philip Elmer-Dewitt, “Computer Chip encumber the Old Block: Genius Seymour Cray and the Company He Founded Secure Up,” Time (29 May 1989); Astronomer 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