Lydia E. Kavraki

Known for research in robotics, bioinformatics, and algorithms, Kavraki left Greece to pursue a PhD in computer science at Stanford University. Drawn to the human potential of robotics, Kavraki studied how robots—from...

James T. Russell

Inventor of the concept of optical digital recording and playback, Russell joined the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of Battelle Memorial Institute in Richland in 1965. There, that same year, he developed the...

Frank Marion Wanlass

Inventor of the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), the technology employed in most modern microchips, Wanlass transformed electronics with a discovery that now touches nearly every digital device. A native of Utah, Wanlass...

Bob (Boe) Overton Evans

At IBM, Evans led the groundbreaking development of compatible computers that changed the industry. He persuaded IBM's chairman, Thomas J. Watson Jr., to discontinue the company's development of a hodgepodge of incompatible...

Clive Marles Sinclair

Developer of the first mass-market UK home computer for under £100, Sinclair was a British entrepreneur and inventor responsible for the ZX80, ZX81, and ZX Spectrum computers, as well as the slim-line...

Francis (Fran) O. Underwood

Chief Architect of the IBM 1401, known as the SPACE Machine, Underwood was an engineer, machine designer, and engineering trainer for IBM. Born in Omaha, NE, he came from a line of...

Pratap Pattnaik

Chief architect and scientist for defining, designing, and implementing the key research technologies that influenced IBM's server design in high-performance computing, Pattnaik has served as an IBM Fellow at the IBM Thomas...

John Maurice McClean Pinkerton

Co-designer of England's first business computer, the LEO computer, Pinkerton was a pioneering British computer designer who worked alongside David Caminer to produce the machine for J. Lyons and Co in 1951....

Steve Chen

Principal designer of the Cray X-MP and Cray Y-MP multiprocessor supercomputers, Chen is a computer engineering pioneer. He has served as founder and CEO of Galactic Computing, a developer of supercomputing blade...

Steven (Steve) L. Scott

An expert in high performance computer architecture and interconnection networks, Scott has worked as a computer architect at Cray Research, Inc., Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI), and Cray, Inc., and has also served...

Ralph J. Slutz

ENIAC physicist and computer pioneer, Slutz made critical contributions to two milestones of human computing history. He passed away on November 16, 2005, at Boulder Community Hospital, Colorado, USA, at age 88. Dr....

Lawrence (Larry) G. Roberts

Developer of ARPANet and the Internet, Roberts served as chief scientist at the Advanced Research Projects Agency, where he and his team created packet switching and the ARPANet, which was the predecessor...

Hemantha Kumar Wickramasinghe

Leader of the team that developed atomic force microscopes (AFMs) into fully hardened instruments usable both within IBM and beyond, Wickramasinghe is a distinguished pioneer in the invention and practical uses of...

John Maxwell Cohn

An innovator in design automation for both analog and digital custom integrated circuits, Cohn has served as Chief Scientist of Design Automation in the Systems and Technology Group at IBM, Burlington, Vermont....

L.J. Sevin

A significant leader in the founding and growth of the U.S. high tech industry, Sevin co-founded Mostek Corporation in 1969 and later co-founded the venture capital firm Sevin Rosen Funds (SRF) with...

Gaylord (Glenn) G. Henry

Lead architect of the IBM System/32, IBM System/38 (forerunner of AS/400), and RT/PC (forerunner of Power systems), Henry is also co-founder and President of Centaur Technologies, Inc., and has played an integral...

An Wang

Inventor and co-founder of Wang Laboratories, Wang transformed business computing through pioneering work in calculators, word processors, and minicomputers. Wang founded Wang Laboratories in June 1951 as a sole proprietorship. By 1970...

James L. Fergason

Inventor of an improved liquid crystal display, Fergason made his seminal discovery of the twisted nematic cell — a low-power, field-operated LC display — in 1969 while at the Liquid Crystal Institute...

Gary K. Starkweather

Inventor of the laser printer, Starkweather invented it at Xerox's Webster research center in 1969, and collaborated on the first fully functional laser printing system at Xerox PARC in 1971. At Apple Computer...

Fred William Wenninger

Leader of the team that developed the Synchro-Rectro-Flash analog computer prototype at HP in the late 1960s, Wenninger also conducted early research for a new algebraic programming language that would eventually be...