Gerrit Blaauw
Encyclopedia
Gerrit Anne Blaauw (b. July 17, 1924, The Hague, Netherlands; Ph.D. Harvard, 1952) is one of the principal designers of the IBM
System/360
line of computers, together with Fred Brooks
, Gene Amdahl
, and others.
In 1947, he won an exclusive scholarship funded by IBM Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Watson
. After an initial year at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania
, Blaauw studied at Harvard University
with Howard Aiken
, inventor of the early Mark I computer. At Harvard, he worked on design of the Mark III
and Mark IV
computers. Blaauw met Fred Brooks while he was working for IBM and visited Harvard, where Fred Brooks was then a graduate student.
After graduation, Blaauw returned to the Netherlands where he worked on the second ARRA computer, but in 1955 came back to the United States to work at IBM's Poughkeepsie
labs. He worked with Brooks on a number of projects:
After leaving IBM, Blaauw became a computer science professor in the Netherlands. He retired in 1989 as professor emeritus with Universiteit Twente
. In 1997 he co-authored a computer architecture book with Brooks.
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
System/360
System/360
The IBM System/360 was a mainframe computer system family first announced by IBM on April 7, 1964, and sold between 1964 and 1978. It was the first family of computers designed to cover the complete range of applications, from small to large, both commercial and scientific...
line of computers, together with Fred Brooks
Fred Brooks
Frederick Phillips Brooks, Jr. is a software engineer and computer scientist, best known for managing the development of IBM's System/360 family of computers and the OS/360 software support package, then later writing candidly about the process in his seminal book The Mythical Man-Month...
, Gene Amdahl
Gene Amdahl
Gene Myron Amdahl is a Norwegian-American computer architect and high-tech entrepreneur, chiefly known for his work on mainframe computers at IBM and later his own companies, especially Amdahl Corporation...
, and others.
In 1947, he won an exclusive scholarship funded by IBM Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Watson
Thomas J. Watson
Thomas John Watson, Sr. was president of International Business Machines , who oversaw that company's growth into an international force from 1914 to 1956...
. After an initial year at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, Blaauw studied at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
with Howard Aiken
Howard Aiken
Howard Hathaway Aiken was a pioneer in computing, being the original conceptual designer behind IBM's Harvard Mark I computer....
, inventor of the early Mark I computer. At Harvard, he worked on design of the Mark III
Harvard Mark III
The Harvard Mark III, also known as ADEC was an early computer that was partially electronic and partially electromechanical. It was built at Harvard University under the supervision of Howard Aiken for the US Navy.The Mark III's word consisted of 16 bits. It used 5,000 vacuum tubes and 1,500...
and Mark IV
Harvard Mark IV
The Harvard Mark IV was an electronic stored-program computer built by Harvard University under the supervision of Howard Aiken for the United States Air Force. The computer was finished being built in 1952. It stayed at Harvard, where the Air Force used it extensively.The Mark IV was all electronic...
computers. Blaauw met Fred Brooks while he was working for IBM and visited Harvard, where Fred Brooks was then a graduate student.
After graduation, Blaauw returned to the Netherlands where he worked on the second ARRA computer, but in 1955 came back to the United States to work at IBM's Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie (city), New York
Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
labs. He worked with Brooks on a number of projects:
- He was a designer on the IBM 7030 STRETCHIBM 7030The IBM 7030, also known as Stretch, was IBM's first transistorized supercomputer. The first one was delivered to Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1961....
project. - He worked on the ill-fated IBM 8000IBM 8000The IBM 8000 series was an ill-fated transistor-based successor to the IBM 7000 series. Important engineers on the project included Fred Brooks and Gerry Blaauw. Despite some technical successes, the project became a political football, amid IBM's search for a unified product line...
series, and in particular designed a paging system for the IBM 8106 in the 1960-1961 period. - He was a key engineer on the IBM System/360System/360The IBM System/360 was a mainframe computer system family first announced by IBM on April 7, 1964, and sold between 1964 and 1978. It was the first family of computers designed to cover the complete range of applications, from small to large, both commercial and scientific...
project, announced in 1964. Among other contributions, Blaauw made the successful case for an 8-bit (as opposed to 6-bit) design. - He designed a revolutionary address translation system, the "Blaauw Box", which was removed from the original System/360System/360The IBM System/360 was a mainframe computer system family first announced by IBM on April 7, 1964, and sold between 1964 and 1978. It was the first family of computers designed to cover the complete range of applications, from small to large, both commercial and scientific...
design, but was later used in IBM's proposal to Project MAC, and incorporated in the important IBM System/360-67. As implemented on the -67, this system became one of the first practical implementations of pagedPagingIn computer operating systems, paging is one of the memory-management schemes by which a computer can store and retrieve data from secondary storage for use in main memory. In the paging memory-management scheme, the operating system retrieves data from secondary storage in same-size blocks called...
virtual memoryVirtual memoryIn computing, virtual memory is a memory management technique developed for multitasking kernels. This technique virtualizes a computer architecture's various forms of computer data storage , allowing a program to be designed as though there is only one kind of memory, "virtual" memory, which...
– perhaps the first to be commercially practical. (The earlier Ferranti Atlas Computer was a seminal platform for paging research, but suffered from well-studied performance issues such as thrashing.) The -67 was being used in commercial applications by 1968.
After leaving IBM, Blaauw became a computer science professor in the Netherlands. He retired in 1989 as professor emeritus with Universiteit Twente
Universiteit Twente
University of Twente is a university located in Enschede, Netherlands. It offers research and degree programmes in the social and behavioral sciences and in engineering. In keeping with its entrepreneurial spirit, the University is committed to making economic and social contribution to the region...
. In 1997 he co-authored a computer architecture book with Brooks.