Item Details

Description

The Ivan E. Sutherland collection on asynchronous computing ranges in date from 1966 to 1999 and consists primarily of materials from Sun Microsystems Laboratories during the 1990s and technical reports published by the Computer Systems Laboratory at Washington University during the late 1960s. The most common types of materials in the collection include technical papers and reports, handwritten notes and diagrams, presentation materials, patent applications, correspondence, memos, and code listings. Additionally, there is a small amount of manuals, program libraries, conference proceedings, and literature compilations. The largest section of the collection consists of research files, the majority of which were created by Charles Molnar while he worked at Sun Microsystems from 1990 to 1996. These files are related to asynchronous computing research and contain drafts of technical reports, hand-drawn diagrams, presentation transparencies, patent applications, internal and external correspondence, and technical papers from Sun Microsystems Laboratories. There are also a significant number of technical papers that were authored and published by people and institutions outside of Sun Microsystems. Sutherland, who worked at Sun with Molnar, saved his files after Molnar passed away in 1996. This portion of the collection also includes some files created by Sutherland, most of which document the work of the Sun Microsystems Laboratories. A smaller portion of the collection is made up of bound technical memoranda from the Computer System Laboratory at Washington University published between 1966 and 1974. These reports focus on the laboratory’s development of macromodules and macromodular computer systems, which laid the foundation for asynchronous computation. There is also a multi-volume final report on macromodular computer design, which was completed in 1974. The work of the laboratory was directed by Wesley A. Clark and funded in part by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the Department of Defense. In addition, the collection holds one box of spiral-bound technical reports from Sun Microsystems Laboratories, which are all titled “Asynchronous Technical Manuals” and dated 1999. Finally, there is a small amount of miscellaneous publications ranging in date from 1975 to 1996, including conference proceedings, program libraries for DECUS, and reference books. Biographical/Historical Note Ivan E. Sutherland is an American computer scientist who is a major figure in computer graphics, virtual reality, and asynchronous computing. Born May 16, 1938, he earned a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, a master's degree from Caltech, and a Ph.D. from MIT in 1963. Sutherland is known for inventing Sketchpad and was a professor at first Harvard University and then the University of Utah. Additionally, he worked as head of the US Defense Department Advanced Research Project Agency's (ARPA) Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO). In 1968 he co-founded Evans and Sutherland with his friend and colleague David C. Evans. He then founded a consulting firm, Sutherland, Sproull and Associates in 1980, which was purchased by Sun Microsystems in 1990 to form the seed of its research division, Sun Microsystems Laboratories. Sutherland assembled the documents in this collection from his personal files, his work with ARPA, and from Charles Molnar when he worked at Sutherland's Sun Research laboratory during the 1990s. The materials are all related to asynchronous, also known as neuromorphic, computing. Specifically, the documentation from ARPA is related to Wesley Clark's work on macromodules at the Computer System Laboratory at Washington University. Macromodules are the fundamental building blocks in the world of asynchronous computing. Charles Molnar, who worked with Clark on macromodule research at Washington University and later joined Sutherland at Sun Microsystems Laboratories, is well known for his work in neuromorphic, asynchronous computing. When he passed away in 1996, he was working at Sun Microsystems on asynchronous circuits with Ivan Sutherland. Sutherland saved Molnar's papers, later incorporating them into this collection on asynchronous computing.

Level of description

Collection

Date

1966-1999

Author

Ivan E. Sutherland (Author)

Extent

11 linear feet in 7 record cartons and 3 periodical boxes

Collection title

Ivan E. Sutherland collection on asynchronous computing

Credit

Gift of Ivan Sutherland

Catalogue number

102784536

Lot number

X8348.2018