Birth of First Modern Computer Celebrated in Manchester

Over 400 hundred UK school children registered for the Schools Computer Animation and over 500 children attended from all over UK on Digital60 Day to see the winners of the UK Schools Computer Animation Competition.

Winners have been announced.
Visit the National Schools Computer Animation (Winners Gallery).
View the shortlisted animations.

There was a live video link-up with MOSI in Manchester, complete with live demonstration of the working Baby replica housed there, plus a computer science magic show. The Museum held a number of family activities and demonstrations of Baby on Saturday 21 June (right image).

Professor Alan Gilbert, President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester, said:

“Sixty years ago The University of Manchester won the race to create the first digital stored program computer. It was an arresting achievement that put Manchester at the forefront of a global technological revolution. The University has continually built on this legacy of innovation and The School of Computer Science enjoys an international reputation for being at the very cutting edge of research in computer science and new technology. With excellent industry links and numerous outstanding technological spin-out companies, the influence of the computer science research being done at The University extends regionally, nationally and internationally.”

Professor John Perkins, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at The University of Manchester, said:

“The University is extremely proud of what Tom Kilburn and Freddie Williams achieved in 1948. The birth of the Baby changed the world forever and the Digital60 Day celebrations has certainly confirmed the importance of computer science today and we hope that this event will encourage the brightest and best of the next generation to engage in the challenges facing computing over the coming decades.”

The evening included a special awards ceremony and drinks reception at which the Baby design and development team (left image: Ben Thomas (on behalf of his Grandfather Tommy Thomas), Geoff Tootill, Dai Edwards and Alec Robinson) were awarded The University of Manchester's Medal of Honour and the BCS@50 medal, struck to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the BCS. A BCS medal was also awarded to Chris Burton in recognition of his contributions to the preservation of the history of computing in Manchester.

The ceremony was followed by the inaugural Kilburn Lecture, delivered by Professor Steve Furber CBE from The School of Computer Science on ‘The Relentless March of the Microchip’.

"Biological systems demonstrate many of the properties we aspire to incorporate into our engineered technology, so perhaps that suggests a possible source of ideas that we could seek to incorporate into future novel computation systems? Current research at Manchester into the development of the “Brain Box” computer is a contribution to the computing Grand Challenge of ‘Understanding the Architecture of Brain and Mind’, and will provide a platform for the investigation of these important issues that face the microchip industry in the near future."

Watch The Kilburn Lecture 2008 on IET TV Titled "The Relentless March of the Microchip" The 2008 speaker was Professor Steve Furber CBE of The University of Manchester School of Computer Science and holder of the IET Faraday Medal. 2008-06-20 12:00:00.0 IT Channel >> go to webcast