1. Computer Hero: ‘A Man Whose
Vision Changed the World’
More about Seymour Start Quiz
2. Computer Hero: ‘A Man Whose
Vision Changed the World’
First Cray-1
Learn more about Seymour Cray and his
life by selecting the buttons below
“The father of Supercomputing”
Background Cray Research Inc.
3. Cray-1
• Born September 28, 1925 in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, USA
• Seymour had a fascination with electronics and electrical devices from
boyhood. His father was a civil engineer.
• Following graduation from high school in 1943, he joined the US Army
serving in an infantry communications platoon.
• After returning from the war, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in
Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1950, followed by
a Masters degree in Applied Mathematics in 1951.
• Shortly thereafter, he joined a company called Engineering Research
Associates (ERA).
• It was also here that he had the opportunity to design his first computer, the
1103.
Cray Research Inc.
4. • The legendary Seymour Cray, the "father of supercomputing," founded Cray Research.
• In 1973 he powers up first Cray-1™ supercomputer.
• It boasted a world-record speed of 160 million floating-point operations per second
(160 megaflops) and an 8 megabyte (1 million word) main memory.
• Three years later he delivers first Cray-1 system (Los Alamos National
Laboratory), issues first public stock offering and receives first official customer
order, The National Centre for Atmospheric Research.
• The Cray-1's architecture reflected its designer's technical hurdles with revolutionary
ideas.
• The Cray-1 had a unique "C" shape which enabled integrated circuits to be closer
together, thus increasing its speed.
• Cray developed an innovative refrigeration system using Freon.
Background Cray Research Inc.Start Quiz
5. • By 1970, Cray had been directly responsible for the design and
development of the systems that were to shape the high performance
computer industry for years to come…
• In 1972 Seymour was also was presented with the Harry H. Good
Memorial Award for his contributions to large-scale computer design and
the development of multiprocessing systems.
“All of Seymour’s systems were masterpieces of technology and aesthetic
design. To Seymour, elegance of physical design was as important as reaching
the performance goals. In this area also he was unmatched by anyone.”
Charles W. Breckenridge, Keynote Session at SC1996, 11/19/96
Cray-1Background Start Quiz
