CSIRAC Computer - National Engineering Landmark #31 Spotswood, Victoria, Australia
By Team MavEtJu on 31-Oct-15. Waypoint GA7746

CSIRAC Computer - National Engineering Landmark #31

The CSIR Mkl was one of the earliest electronic stored-program computers in the world and is believed to be the only first generation electronic computer whose hardware is still essentially intact. The computer was designed and constructed in Australia and at the time Australia was arguably at the leading edge of this emerging field of technological development. The computer was in regular use from 1951 to 1964 during which time it was progressively improved. It performed computations for a wide range of scientific, industrial and engineering projects as well as serving as a facility for the learning of computer programming and logical design disciplines.

Design and construction of the CSIR Mk 1, later renamed CSIRAC (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Automatic Computer) commenced in 1947 as a project at the CSIRO Division of Radio Physics in Sydney. It entered into regular computational usage in 1951 and continued to be developed and improved throughout its life. In 1955 it was relocated to Melbourne University and re-commissioned the following year in that University's new Computation Laboratory, marking the beginning of electronic computing in Victoria. CSIRAC operated as an 'open shop' computational facility serving academia, government and private industry until it was finally decommissioned in 1964. By then, it was the oldest first generation electronic computer still in use anywhere. The computer and its associated equipment was donated the Institute of Applied Science, Victoria, now Museum Victoria, in whose care it has been preserved.

Contents of the plaque:

Physicist and mathematician Trevar Pearly, and electrical/mechanical engineering Maston Beard, led the design team for this computer, the first in Australia, and it was built by the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics. CSIRAC demonstrates how Australian designers, working largely in isolation, could successfully build one of the world's first computers. CSIRAC ran its first program in 1949 and operating until 1964, performing computations for scientific, engineering and commercial projects. It is now the only intact first generation computer.

The Institution of Engineers Australia, Museum Victoria and the University of Melbourne, 2004.

Note: CSIRAC is now situated in Think Ahead at Scienceworks.

When logging this virtual, please add a photo of yourself or your GPSr at the plaque.

For more information, please see the nomination PDF at the Heritage Register at the Engineers Australia website: https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/portal/heritage/csirac-computer-1949-64