Hi Dennis,
This was a Mechanical Engineering CAD/CAM system that was based on an
IBM mainframe. The fishbowl was in the first floor of the MEEM building.
The CAD/CAM system displays would allow you to design/draw wire frame drawings.
I don’t know much more than that.
Arden White
***
Hi Dennis,
I certainly remember these computers. They were well-known by
students who took ME441. They ran the 'latest' 3D CAD software from SDRC,
which may have been a forerunner of IDEAS. They didn't have mice. Instead,
a lightpen was used to select lines and features on the screen. You actually
had to hold the pen up to the screen and 'click' it against
the glass to make a selection. With a full class, all of those lightpens
made quite a racket. After I had passed the course myself, I was hired
the next term by then-instructor Jim Martin to help teach the lab sections.
As I recall, Jim was later hired by SDRC when he graduated. Sheryl Sorby
took over the course after that. I was a TA for her lab sections for several
terms. These machines were all retired, except for one or two, around 1988
when they were replaced with Sun workstations. What an improvement!
Bob Page, MSME '90
***
Dennis,
I'm assuming the picture of the 1984 fishbowl is in the entrance level of the
new ME-EM building.
If I am correct, here is the story from my viewpoint.
For the 14 or 15 years or more centered around 1982 to 1996 I made many trips
to Michigan Tech representing IBM Federal Systems in Owego,NY. I volunteered
for the assignment since I graduated from Tech in 1958.with a BS in Electrical
Engineering. Ultimately I served 14 years on the Electrical Engineering External
Advisory Committee.
Initially I came as a special speaker to expose students to engineering applications
in industry. At the time I managed the part of the Owego Engineering Lab that
included Design Automation. We were transitioning from batch processing for
logic diagrams and printed circuit wire routing to interactive applications
for the logic design drawings, component placement, capture of wiring lists,
initial wiring and embedding the final wires in the mullti-layer printed circuit
cards that the automatic wire routing programs at that time could not complete.
My organization had also just installed Computer Aided Design workstations
for mechanical design.
I was aware that IBM was offering up to 20 grants , on a competitive basis,
to universities for a complete turn-key IBM computer based interactive design
system. I stopped by the Engineering Dean's Office (Kreuger?) and found that
an effort has begun to prepare a proposal. I offered to review their draft
and critique it using techniques then used to evaluate proposals for Department
of Defense contracts Although Tech had a good story, it failed to address everything
requested in the Request for Proposal (RFP) document..
At my suggestion, the witting team examined the RFP for every "will" and "shall" and
rewrote the proposal text such that every "will" and "shall" was
addressed in the same order at they appeared in the RFP plus additional highly
relevant material . I became concerned lest my involvement would invalidate
the proposal from Michigan Tech which was expected to be authored by the faculty.
I insisted that in no way was my involvement to be revealed. The proposal went
through a few more iterations that l received by mail and reviewed in New York.
When it came time for the final copy, Dean K flew to New York and, there around
the kitchen table. we put the final polish on the proposal
IBM reported that it received a large number of excellent proposals and decided
to increase the number of awards from 20 to 22. Michigan Tech was one of the
winners. A year or so later the system was installed behind glass for all to
see. I returned to Tech for a meeting of the EE Department External Advisory
Committee. One evening my wife and I were invited to a fine dinner in Calumet
where we celebrated the award from IBM and it was revealed that I was one of
the secret proposal authors.
Bill Patzer
BSEE 1958
***
Those are not snazzy computers in the fish bowl in 1984, those are just terminals.
They were all connected to a big IBM 4341 computer located in the administration
building. The vector terminals were used to run CADAM, a computer design and
modeling system. Instead of a mouse, they had a light pen that you touched
to the screen to indicate a point in a drawing. John deBeaubien and Cynthia
MacDonald were the staff of the Academic Computing Services that supported
the graphics lab. I helped maintain the computers in the administration building.
Great newsletter,
Ken Williams
class of '75 and '85
***
Those are quite an upgrade to the punch card machines we used in the late
70’s
Rand Hruska 75-79
***
Dennis,
The "computers" you mention in this week's "Fill in the Blanks" were
actually just CAD/CAM (graphics) terminals - all connected to a single IBM
4341 "mainframe". The 4341 had a whopping 4MB of memory, 2 500MB
disk drives (each the size of a file cabinet drawer), could process 1.5 million
instructions per second, and "IPLed" (booted) from an 8-inch floppy
disk. To give a comparison - everyone shown in that room was sharing about
1/500 of the processing power of an iPhone 4s!
I was an Academic Computing Services consultant and student programmer at
that time. After graduation, I spent the next 8 years at IBM Endicott, where
I helped develop the 9370 (a successor to the 4341); I am still in contact
with some of the engineers who designed the 4341.
Garrett Lanzy '84
***
I remember modeling automotive pistons in 1984 on the very computers that
you depicted in the recent newsletter. Our instructor specifically directed
us to use no more than 8 facets to (crudely) model the piston O.D. on our 3D
models. I was not happy with the result, and – in spite of the instructor’s
direction – opted to try a much larger number of facets (I think >100).
My effort immediately brought the entire system “to its knees” and – almost
immediately - 2 I.T. coordinators literally ran into the room to see what had
happened. Needless to say, I was “reprimanded” and embarrassed;
the entire class was dismissed for some time while the situation was fixed.
Dave Lange
***
No. I graduated “BPC” [Before Personal Computers], in 1979, when
the Fish Bowl held tables and chairs for studying, and the new “EE” building
had a new mainframe computer in its basement which crashed every time it rained
as well as whenever the humidity was high [and taking our homework submissions “down” with
it!
Yours in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Fr. Gregory Veneklase
***
Holy cow that photo brings back memories of endless hours working on a computer
aided design (CAD) for a roller bearing assembly. The project was a big part
of the grade for ME 402 Advanced Problems in Mechanical Engineering. The “tubes” were
a recent donation from SDRC and General Motors Corporation. These were the
first “3D” design software/hardware units seen on the MTU campus.
I remember how frustrating it was because the program used functions like “copy” and “mirror
image” to create. But do to a lack of memory capability, sometimes (check
that, most of the time) if you tried to copy or mirror too much information
the program would error out without saving. Hence the endless hours creating
and recreating components with fingers crossed hoping the next function wouldn’t
be the last before having to start over. I think they kept this lab open virtually
around the clock. I can’t be sure but the one fellow on the right dark
hair & dark coat could be me.
Regards, Michael (Mike) Zelek
BSME Class of 1984
On Saturday,
January 28, about 100 Tech alumni, friends, and students gathered
at Grandma's Sports Garden in Duluth for a pre-game dinner
gathering prior to the UMD vs. Michigan Tech hockey game. Coach
Mel Pearson stopped by to mingle with the group and got the
crowd excited for the sold-out game. Tech shut out the #1 ranked
Bulldogs at the new AMSOIL Arena. It
was a great night for Huskies fans!
Kimberly
L. Turner '94