Artifact Details

Title

Fairbairn, Douglas oral history

Catalog Number

102717219

Type

Document

Description

In this oral history, Doug describes his early interest in rockets and space, amateur radio, and his decision to pursue electrical engineering as a career. He entered Stanford University in 1966 and graduated with an MSEE degree in 1971. He spent 8 years at Xerox PARC, where he worked on the POLOS program, VLSI design methodologies, and the NoteTaker portable personal computer.

He left Xerox in 1980 to pursue work on Lambda Magazine and to become a founder of VLSI Technology. At VLSI, he headed a design tool group initially, but eventually took over the whole ASIC business.

In 1990, he left VLSI Technology and co-founded Redwood Design Automation, a software design tool company. Redwood was purchased by Cadence in 1994, at which time Doug became the General Manager of the Alta Group at Cadence.

Since leaving Cadence in 1998, Doug has served on the Boards of a number of small companies. Since 2007, he has pursued a dual career, working at the Computer History Museum and running his own photography business.

Date

2016-10-06

Contributor

Brock, David C., Interviewer
Fairbairn, Doug, Interviewee
Hansen, Hsu, Interviewer
Laws, David, Interviewer
Weber, Marc, Interviewer

Publisher

Computer History Museum

Place of Publication

Mountain View, CA

Format

PDF

Category

Transcription

Subject

Xerox PARC; POLOS (PARC On-Line Office System); NoteTaker; Mead, Carver; Conway, Lynn; Lampda Magazine; VLSI Design Magazine; VLSI Technology; VTI; Redwood Design Automation; Alta Group; Rowson, Jim; Cadence; Comdisco Systems

Collection Title

CHM Oral History Collection

Credit

COmputer History Museum

Lot Number

X7960.2017

Related Records

102717220 Fairbairn, Douglas oral history