The National Aviation Facilities Experimental Center (NAFEC) was founded July 1,1958 by the Airways Modernization Board (AMB) near Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...

. On November 1, 1959, after passage of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958

Federal Aviation Act of 1958

The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 was an act of the United States Congress, , that created the Federal Aviation Agency and abolished its predecessor, the Civil Aeronautics Administration...

, it came under the newly created US Federal Aviation Agency

Federal Aviation Administration

The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...

 (FAA). Its purpose was to conduct research and development on air traffic control

Air traffic control

Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...

 computers, transponder

Transponder (aviation)

A transponder is an electronic device that produces a response when it receives a radio-frequency interrogation...

s, and advanced radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

 equipment. The success (in terms of funding and research activity) eventually forced the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) to close its own Technical Evaluation and Development Center in Indianapolis

Indianapolis

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

 starting in 1959.

The computerized air traffic control developed at NAFEC was based on the IBM 9020

IBM 9020

The IBM 9020 refers to IBM System/360-family computers adapted into a multiprocessor system for use by the U.S. FAA for en route Air Traffic Control in its 20 Air Route Traffic Control Centers beginning in the late 1960s...

, special hardware developed by IBM

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...

. Software was developed by NAFEC, IBM, and under contract to Computer Usage Company

Computer Usage Company

Computer Usage Company , sometimes called Computer Usage Corporation, was the first independent company to market computer software.-History:...

. The system remained in operation until the 1980s.
The former 1942 Naval Air Station became the Atlantic City International Airport

Atlantic City International Airport

Atlantic City International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located nine nautical miles northwest of the central business district of Atlantic City, in Atlantic County, New Jersey...

, and the center is now called the William J. Hughes Technical Center, named for William J. Hughes

William J. Hughes

William John "Bill" Hughes served as a Democratic Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1995, representing New Jersey’s Second Congressional District which includes major portions of the Jersey Shore and Pine Barrens, the cities of Vineland and Atlantic City, and the counties...

.