Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

182 Engelbart, DouglasEngelbart, Douglas(1925– )AmericanComputer EngineerDouglas Engelbart invented key elements of today’s graphicaluser interface, including the use of windows, hypertextlinks, and the ubiquitous mouse. Engelbart grew up ona small farm near Portland, Oregon, and acquired a keeninterest in electronics. His electrical engineering studiesat Oregon State University were interrupted by wartimeservice in the Philippines as a radar technician. During thattime he read a seminal article by Vannevar Bush entitled“As We May Think.” Bush presented a wide-ranging visionof an automated, interlinked text system not unlike thedevelopment that would become hypertext and the WorldWide Web (see Bush, Vannevar).After returning to college for his Ph.D. (awarded in1955), Engelbart worked for NACA (the predecessor ofNASA) at the Ames Laboratory. Continuing to be inspiredby Bush’s vision, Engelbart conceived of a computer displaythat would allow the user to visually navigate throughinformation displays. Engelbart received his doctorate inelectrical engineering in 1955 at the University of California,Berkeley, taught there a few years, and then went tothe Stanford Research Institute (SRI), a hotbed of futuristicideas. In 1962, Engelbart wrote a seminal paper ofhis own, titled “Augmenting Human Intellect: A ConceptualFramework.” In this paper Engelbart emphasized thecomputer not as a mere aid to calculation, but as a toolthat would enable people to better visualize and organizecomplex information to meet the increasing challenges ofthe modern world. The hallmark of Engelbart’s approachto computing would continue to be his focus on the centralrole played by the user.In 1963, Engelbart left SRI and formed his own researchlab, the Augmentation Research Center. During the 1960sand 1970s, he worked on implementing linked text systems(see hypertext and hypermedia). In order to help usersinteract with the computer display, he came up with theidea of a device that could be moved to control a pointeron the screen. Soon called the “mouse,” the device wouldbecome ubiquitous in the 1980s.Engelbart also took a key interest in the developmentof the ARPANET (ancestor of the Internet) and adapted hisNLS hypertext system to help coordinate network development.(However, the dominant form of hypertext on theInternet would be Tim Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web—(seeBerners-Lee, Tim.) In 1989, Engelbart founded the BootstrapInstitute, an organization dedicated to improving thecollaboration within organizations, and thus their performance.During the 1990s, this nurturing of new businessesand other organizations would become his primary focus.Engelbart received the MIT-Lemuelson Award and thea.m. Turing Award in 1997 and the National Medal of Technologyin 2000. Public recognition of Engelbart’s work andideas about human-computer interaction was also reflectedin a Stanford University symposium called “Engelbart’sUnfinished Revolution.”Further ReadingBardini, Thierry. Bootstrapping: Douglas Engelbart, Coevolution,and the Origins of Personal Computing. Stanford, Calif.: StanfordUniversity Press, 2000.Bootstrap Institute. Available online. URL: http://www.bootstrap.org. Accessed July 23, 2007.“Engelbart’s Unfinished Revolution.” Stanford University Symposium.Available online. URL: http://www.itmweb.com/essay550.htm. Accessed July 23, 2007.“Internet Pioneers: Doug Engelbart.” Available online. URL: http://www.ibiblio.org/pioneers/Engelbart.html. Accessed April 18,2008.Engelberger, Joseph(1925– )AmericanEntrepreneur, RoboticistJoseph Engelberger and George Devol created the first industrialrobot, revolutionizing the assembly line. Engelbergerwent on to develop other robots that can work in hospitalsand other settings while tirelessly promoting industrialrobotics.Engelberger was born on July 26, 1925, in New YorkCity. During World War II he was selected for a special programwhere promising students were paid to study physicsat Columbia University. Just after the war he worked asan engineer on early nuclear tests in the Pacific. He alsoworked on aerospace and nuclear power projects. After completinghis military duties, Engelberger attended ColumbiaUniversity’s School of Engineering and earned B.S. (1946)and M.S. degrees in physics and electrical engineering. Thissolid background in science and engineering would shapeEngelberger’s practical approach to robot design.A number of technologies of the 1940s and 1950s contributedto the later development of robotics. The war hadgreatly increased the development of automatic controlsand servomechanisms that allow for precise positioning andmanipulation of machine parts. The rise of nuclear powerand the need to safely handle radioactive materials alsospurred the development of automatic controls. Engelbergerbegan to develop business ventures in the automation field,starting a company called Consolidated Controls.In the mid-1950s Engelberger met George Devol, an inventorwho had patented a programmable transfer machine. Thiswas a device that could automatically move components fromone specified position to another, such as in a die-castingmachine that formed parts for automobiles. Engelbergerrealized that Devol’s machine could, with some additionalextensions and capabilities, become a robot that could beprogrammed to work on an assembly line.In 1956 Engelberger and Devol founded Unimate, Inc.—the world’s first industrial robot company. Their robot,also called Unimate, is essentially a large “shoulder” andarm. The shoulder can move along a track to position thearm near the materials to be manipulated. The arm can beequipped with a variety of specialized grasping “hands” tosuit the task. The robot is programmed to perform a set ofrepetitive motions. It is also equipped with various devices