ENIAC inventor, U. alum dies at 76

J. Presper Eckert, a University alumnus who invented the world's first electronic digital computer, ENIAC, died this summer at the age of 76. His June 3 death marked the end of a long battle with cancer. Eckert's death comes less than a year before ENIAC's 50th anniversary celebration at the University. Vice President Al Gore will serve as honorary chairperson for the event. Eckert, along with co-inventor John Mauchly, completed the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer in February 1946. That invention, experts say, marked the beginning of the computer age. "While many creative people contributed to the development of computers, it was ENIAC that captured people's imagination and gave them a glimpse of the future," said School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dean Gregory Farrington. Eckert began working on the ENIAC system in 1943 at the prompting of U.S. Army officials. A 23-year-old research associate at the University, he was charged with speeding up calculations so the Army could aim and shoot its big guns faster. When ENIAC was completed on Feb. 14, 1946, the time it took to plot the flight of each projectile dropped from about 12 hours to 30 seconds -- an improvement of 1,440 times. The completed system weighed more than 30 tons and was comprised of 40 panels arranged in the shape of an 80 foot "U." The colossal machine contained 18,000 vacuum tubes, 500,000 soldered joints, 70,000 resistors and 10,000 capacitors. According to Paul Shaffer, curator of the ENIAC Museum in the Moore Building on campus, many scientists and engineers mocked the idea of using vacuum tubes in computer systems. But the inventors would not be dissuaded. "They proved it could be done, and there was no turning back from there," Shaffer said. Eckert's work has been recognized by the government and computer organizations alike. He received 87 U.S. patents as well as the National Medal of Science, bestowed upon him by President Lyndon Johnson in 1969.

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