IEEE Washington Section

Serving members in the District of Columbia and part of Maryland since 1903

e S C A N N E R
Calendar Index

Welcome

Officers

Directors

Technical Societies and Affinity Groups

Student Branches

Affiliated Organizations

› History

Past Chairs

Bylaws

L I N K S

Virtual Community

Northern Virginia Section

Baltimore Section

IEEE Region 2

Sister Section in India

eMeritBadges

History

The 1970s: Welcome to the Digital Age

For many Washington Section members of the IEEE during the 1970s, technical achievements often appeared to be eclipsed by the turbulence felt across the country, but centered in Washington, D.C. The decade started with conflicts surrounding an unpopular war in Southeast Asia and major demonstrations in downtown Washington. Then there was the constitutional crisis of Watergate, leading to the sight of a disgraced President waving goodbye from the doorway of a helicopter on August 10, 1974. The fallout from this occupied the next administration and acted as a catalyst for the election of Jimmy Carter. The end of the decade saw a full-blown recession and long gas lines.

However, even during these trying times there were many technical accomplishments that IEEE members were instrumental in achieving. At NASA, the flight of Apollo 17 ended a decade long lunar exploration program, when on December 14, 1972, the lunar module Challenger lifted off from the moon. Former President Lyndon Johnson, who had drafted the act establishing NASA and who was a major proponent of manned space flight died of a heart attack shortly thereafter, on January 22, 1973.

Skylab3 was launched in 1974 using components of the Apollo Program. By 1975, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project combined the assets of two nations' lunar efforts to achieve the first international rendezvous and docking procedures, which would aid in the planning of today's International Space Station. Even before this flight, Pioneer 10 was launched in March 1972, ushering in an era of unmanned exploration, and Voyager 1 and 2 were launched in September and August 1977. Planning and construction for the Space Shuttle program began in the last half of the decade.

But, in almost all of the professional activities of IEEE members of this time, and in many other ways, the greatest impact was that of the digital revolution and the integrated circuit. Military and space electronics transitioned from analog electronics with ferrite core memories to semiconductor microprocessors and DRAMs. All were affected by the advent of cheap calculators and personal computers that were introduced in this period. Many found that by the end of the decade they wore a digital watch and their children were playing with a Texas Instruments innovation called Speak and Spell.

Some milestones reached in this digital transition include:

• 1970: Intel delivers the first 1024-bit DRAM.
• 1971: Bell Labs researcher Dennis Ritchie announces the C programming language and Intel delivers the first large-scale integration (LSI) processor with the 4004, which contains 2300 transistors.
• 1972: SPICE1 is released by UC-Berkeley, and the HP35 calculator from Hewlett-Packard and the SR10 from Texas Instruments introduce subcalculators at less than $400, affordable to college students.
• 1973: The first logic analyzer, the HP1601A is introduced by Hewlett-Packard.
• 1974: The eight-bit Intel 8080 is introduced and becomes the basis for the PC revolution.
• 1975: Arguably the first PC, the Altair 8800 is introduced.
• 1977: Apple computer introduces the Apple II; Radio Shack introduces the TRS-80 PC.
• 1979: The Motorola 68000 is introduced, which will be used in the Apple Macintosh.

Meanwhile, members of the Washington Section were active in many areas. On April 9, 1971, Dr. George Rado received the Navy Award for Distinguished Achievement in Science for his research in magnetism. He was employed at the Naval Research Labs.

Also in 1971, Donald Dinger became Associate Deputy for Research and Development of the U.S. Army Mobility Equipment R&D center at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia.

In 1975, when the Army's Harry Diamond Laboratories headquarters moved from NW Washington to Adelphi, Maryland, there were many retirements, including those of BillyHorton, Technical Director, and P. Anthony Guarino, Associate Technical Director.

In 1976, Howard Jones, Chief of the Microwave Branch of Harry Diamond Laboratories, was given a Meritorious Civilian Service Award from the Army. He was a Fellow of the IEEE in the microwave area.

Also in 1976, Frank Reggia of Harry Diamond Labs received the Army R&D Achievement Award for his efforts and accomplishments in conformal antennas for military systems.

Officers of the Washington Section over this decade included Harry Fine, Robert Miller, Forest Hogg, Leland Whitelock, Stuart Bouchey, Marjorie Townsend, Robert Briskman, John Kelleher, Dennis Bodson, Alvin Reiner, Herst Gerlach, David Crandall, Saj Durrani, Richard Bache, Gideon Kantor, and George Abraham, who was the IEEE delegate to the Washington Academy of Sciences from 1975-1979. It is especially amazing to see the longevity of some members contributions to the IEEE. Both Saj Durrani and Gideon Kantor are still active in the Section today.

Previous     Next

    Send changes to Tim Weil at trweil@ieee.org or Elsie Grant at ncac-scanner@ieee.org.