Conny Palm
Encyclopedia
Conrad "Conny" Palm was a Swedish
electrical engineer and statistician
, known for several contributions to teletraffic engineering
and queueing theory
.
Palm enrolled at the School of Electrical Engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology
in Stockholm
in 1925, being awarded his M.Sc. (1940) and Ph.D (1943) on a dissertation entitled Intensitätsschwankungen im Fernsprechverkehr. Palm's work was also joint with L. M. Ericsson, cooperating with Christian Jacobæus. He attended Harald Cramér
's queueing theory group, met William Feller
(1937).
Later, Palm was in the Swedish Board for Computing Machinery
(Matematikmaskinnämnden), where he led the project that developed the first Swedish computer
, the BARK
(1947–51), informally referred to as CONIAC (Conny [Palm] Integrator And Calculator). He was adjunct professor in telecommunications at Royal Institute of Technology as well.
Professor Håkan Sterky, who was Palm's thesis advisor, has characterised Palm as a bohemian
and a brilliant statistician. He had started his research before he graduated, which seemed to be due to a lack of interest for some undergraduate courses rather than the level of difficulty of the courses. To apply pressure on him, it was finally agreed that his monthly salary from Ericsson
would only be paid out if he had passed one of his remaining undergraduate exam that month. Sterky related how Palm would typically show up a few days before pay day wishing to sit for an oral exam.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
electrical engineer and statistician
Statistician
A statistician is someone who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. The core of that work is to measure, interpret, and describe the world and human activity patterns within it...
, known for several contributions to teletraffic engineering
Teletraffic engineering
Telecommunications traffic engineering, teletraffic engineering, or traffic engineering is the application of traffic engineering theory to telecommunications...
and queueing theory
Queueing theory
Queueing theory is the mathematical study of waiting lines, or queues. The theory enables mathematical analysis of several related processes, including arriving at the queue, waiting in the queue , and being served at the front of the queue...
.
Palm enrolled at the School of Electrical Engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology
Royal Institute of Technology
The Royal Institute of Technology is a university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH was founded in 1827 as Sweden's first polytechnic and is one of Scandinavia's largest institutions of higher education in technology. KTH accounts for one-third of Sweden’s technical research and engineering education...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in 1925, being awarded his M.Sc. (1940) and Ph.D (1943) on a dissertation entitled Intensitätsschwankungen im Fernsprechverkehr. Palm's work was also joint with L. M. Ericsson, cooperating with Christian Jacobæus. He attended Harald Cramér
Harald Cramér
Harald Cramér was a Swedish mathematician, actuary, and statistician, specializing in mathematical statistics and probabilistic number theory. He was once described by John Kingman as "one of the giants of statistical theory".-Early life:Harald Cramér was born in Stockholm, Sweden on September...
's queueing theory group, met William Feller
William Feller
William Feller born Vilibald Srećko Feller , was a Croatian-American mathematician specializing in probability theory.-Early life and education:...
(1937).
Later, Palm was in the Swedish Board for Computing Machinery
Swedish Board for Computing Machinery
The Swedish Board for Computing Machinery, Matematikmaskinnämnden , was a Swedish government agency which built Sweden's first computers, BARK and BESK....
(Matematikmaskinnämnden), where he led the project that developed the first Swedish computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
, the BARK
BARK
BARK was an early electromechanical computer. BARK was built using standard phone relays, implementing a 32-bit binary machine. It could perform addition in 150 ms and multiplication in 250 ms. It had a memory with 50 registers and 100 constants. It was later expanded to double the memory...
(1947–51), informally referred to as CONIAC (Conny [Palm] Integrator And Calculator). He was adjunct professor in telecommunications at Royal Institute of Technology as well.
Professor Håkan Sterky, who was Palm's thesis advisor, has characterised Palm as a bohemian
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
and a brilliant statistician. He had started his research before he graduated, which seemed to be due to a lack of interest for some undergraduate courses rather than the level of difficulty of the courses. To apply pressure on him, it was finally agreed that his monthly salary from Ericsson
Ericsson
Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
would only be paid out if he had passed one of his remaining undergraduate exam that month. Sterky related how Palm would typically show up a few days before pay day wishing to sit for an oral exam.