Nate Edwards

Who is Nate Edwards?

Nathen P. Edwards is a former IBM hardware architect, retired in 1997. He did his military service from 1942 to 1946, as a LTJG, Deck, USNR, Pacific, Chief Radio Technician, followed by Stanford University, where he gained an MS EE in 1949.

He worked for IBM from 1949 to 1990, as a Staff Member, Thomas J. Watson Research Center, with the position of Senior Engineer for the last 20 years of this period. He published, sometimes with other authors, 22 technical papers, 14 patents and patent publications — see below.

Between 1949 and 1953, his activities included design and construction of the prototype of the first electronic memory for the IBM 701 computer, and managing digital electronic design for the working prototype of the highly successful AN/FSQ-7 SAGE project. The SAGE system was a nation-wide network of computer centers linked to radar inputs and operated by military personnel using graphic and numeric display terminals whose operators directly controlled the air defense fighter activities in real time.

This was followed by a period working for IBM Data Processing Division as Director of Standards for the company-wide transition from vacuum tube technologies to transistor circuits introduced in IBM's 1400 and 7090 computer product line. There he was responsible for planning the new circuit standards and financial controls which moved design of circuits and packaging of IBM products from each individual product group to a company-wide standards activity such that manufacture could be changed from manual assembly to fully automatic assembly and test of digital circuit assemblies. This contributed to the financial success of the IBM 1400 and 7000 series of transistorized computer products.