Honoring Computer Pioneer Tommy Flowers and Colossus

In November 1943, an electrical engineer working in the telecommunications department of Britain's General Post Office named Tommy Flowers designed and built the world’s first programmable computer. Named "Colossus," the thermionic tube-based programmable computer successfully broke the supposedly unbreakable Lorenz cipher used by Hitler and the German High Command during the Second World War. Afterward, Flowers had a long, successful career which included the development of the first all-electronic telephone exchange.

To honor Flowers,  a memorial bust created by sculptor James Butler MBE will be unveiled at Adastral Park, BT’s global research and development headquarters at Martlesham, Suffolk, England in December. In addition, the Tommy Flowers’ Computing Science Scholarship in association with BT is offering academic mentoring, financial support and professional experience to students starting Year 12, and two Tommy Flowers’ Awards for Commitment to Computing have been launched by BT to celebrate the inspirational teaching of Computer Science at Key Stages 2 and 3.

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