Biological Computer Laboratory Contract and Conference File

Overview

Scope and Contents

Biographical Note

Subject Terms



Email us about these records

Finding Aid for Biological Computer Laboratory Contract and Conference File, 1946-73 | University of Illinois Archives

email Email us about these records | printer Print this information

Collection Overview

Title: Biological Computer Laboratory Contract and Conference File, 1946-73Add to your cart.View associated digital content.

ID: 11/6/17

Primary Creator: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Extent: 20.9 cubic feet

Arrangement: By contracts and conferences and by grantor and number(contracts) and chronological (conferences)

Subjects: Air Force Research, Army Research, Computers, Cybernetics, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Navy Research, Science and Technology

Formats/Genres: Papers

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Biological Computer Laboratory (BCL) Contract and Conference File including material on contracts with the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (OSR), Aeronautical Systems Division, Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory and Systems Command; Office of Naval Research (ONR); National Science Foundation (NSF) (1961-63); Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1958-70); Army Research Office (1968-69); and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (1967-68). The series includes contracts on which director Heinz Von Foerster worked, including those for Air Force Air Material Command (1946-53), OSR (1954-58), Cambridge Research Center (1953-60), Army Air Forces (1946-51) and ONR (1947-55) and consulting projects with Westinghouse (1960-64), Army Research Office (1960-64) and NSF living systems cellular proliferation, mammalian auditory systems, cognition, cybernetics, visual perception, notation of movement, mechanization of cognitive processes and man-machine systems. The series includes material on conferences attended (1950-51, 1953, 1955-71) by Von Foerster concerning cybernetics, bionics, man-machine interaction, electrical engineering, computers, art and design and memory and meetings of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (1964-69), American Society for Cybernetics (1967-71), NATO Advisory Board (1965, 1968) and the Annual Review of Electronics (1963-69, 1971); lectures to seminars, classes, clubs, and religious foundations; the Graduate College Centennial Committee; television presentations and visits by contract supervisors.

Biographical Note

Electrical Engineering courses started as a division of the Physics Department in 1891. The Trustees approved a course in Electrical Engineering in 1891.1 The University of Illinois was comparatively late in offering a course in Electrical Engineering, but by 1894 the Department compared favorably with other Engineering Departments in equipment and facilities.2 The work of administration and instruction in Physics and Electrical Engineering separated temporarily into two departments in 1895, but were joined thereafter until 1898 when the department of Electrical Engineering was established as a separate unit.3 In 1919 the objectives were: to prepare men to engage in design, care and maintenance of electrical apparatus of all kinds.4 In 1972 the department's aims were to prepare men for responsible engineering positions in research, development, design, operation, sales, and administration in the fields of communication, computers, electronics and electrical power.5 In 1940, the Department absorbed the Department of Railway Engineering and its laboratory when that department was dissolved.6 Interdisciplinary courses are offered in conjunction with the departments of Astronomy, Biophysics, Computer Science, Mathematics, and the Coordinated Science Laboratory.7 From 1968 onward, computer science starts making an appearance in the electrical engineering curriculum. A specified sequence of electrical engineering courses enables specialization in the area of computer science.8

On February 16, 1984, the Board of Trustees received for record the president's report of Senate approval of a name change to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering to reflect "the breadth of emphasis" in the department.9

ECE includes the following departments:

--Analog Computer Laboratory

--Biophysical Research Laboratory

--Vermilion River Observatory:

Completed in 1962, the Vermilion River Observatory was the site of the University's radio telescope, which was used in the study of signals from radio sources in space. The project was financed by the Office of Naval Research and the

Astronomy and Electrical Engineering Departments:

--Radio Research Laboratory (1974)

1. Board of Trustees Transactions, 16th Report, March 11, 1891, p. 75.

2. Board of Trustees Transactions, 17th Report, 1894, p. 332.

3. Baker and King, History, 1:443.

4. University of Illinois Bulletin, Vol 16, no. 19, Jan. 6, 1919, p. 10.

5. Undergraduate Study Catalog, 1971-72, p. 285.

6. Baker and King, History, 1:504.

7. Research in Electrical Engineering, 1966, p. 88, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Illinois.

8. University of Illinois Bulletin, Vol. 65, No. 109, May 1, 1968.

9. Board of Trustees Transactions, 62nd Report, Feb. 16, 1984, p. 485.

Subject/Index Terms

Air Force Research
Army Research
Computers
Cybernetics
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Navy Research
Science and Technology

Administrative Information

Repository: University of Illinois Archives

Accruals: 7/29/74

Other Note: 17 Pages

PDF Box/Folder List

URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/uasfa/1106017.pdf

PDF finding aid for Biological Computer Laboratory Contract and Conference File (11/6/17)


Browse by :

,
[All]


Page Generated in: 0.239 seconds (using 130 queries).
Using 6.83MB of memory. (Peak of 7.09MB.)

Powered by Archon Version 3.21 rev-3
Copyright ©2017 The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign