Computer science division at the University of Cambridge
The
Department of Computer Science and Technology
, formerly the
Computer Laboratory
, is the
computer science
department of the
University of Cambridge
. As of 2023
[update]
it employed 56
faculty members
, 45 support staff, 105 research staff, and about 205 research students.
[1]
The current Head of Department is Professor Alastair Beresford.
History
[
edit
]
The department was founded as the
Mathematical Laboratory
under the leadership of
John Lennard-Jones
on 14 May 1937, though it did not get properly established until after
World War II
.
[2]
The new laboratory was housed in the North Wing of the former Anatomy School, on the
New Museums Site
. Upon its foundation, it was intended "to provide a computing service for general use, and to be a centre for the development of computational techniques in the University". The
Cambridge Diploma in Computer Science
was the world's first postgraduate taught course in computing, starting in 1953.
[3]
In October 1946, work began under
Maurice Wilkes
on
EDSAC
(
Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator
), which subsequently became the world's first fully operational and practical
stored program
computer when it ran its first program on 6 May 1949.
[4]
It inspired the world's first business computer,
LEO
. It was replaced by
EDSAC 2
, the first microcoded and bitsliced computer, in 1958.
[5]
In 1961,
David Hartley
developed
Autocode
, one of the first
high-level programming languages
, for
EDSAC 2
. Also in that year, proposals for
Titan
, based on the
Ferranti Atlas
machine, were developed. Titan became fully operational in 1964 and EDSAC 2 was retired the following year. In 1967, a full ('24/7') multi-user time-shared service for up to 64 users was inaugurated on Titan.
In 1970, the Mathematical Laboratory was renamed the
Computer Laboratory
, with separate departments for Teaching and Research and the Computing Service, providing computing services to the university and its colleges. The two did not fully separate until 2001, when the Computer Laboratory moved out to the new William Gates building in
West Cambridge
, off
Madingley Road
, leaving behind an independent
Computing Service
.
In 2002, the Computer Laboratory launched the
Cambridge Computer Lab Ring
, a graduate society named after the
Cambridge Ring
network.
[6]
Current
[
edit
]
On 30 June 2017, the
Cambridge University Reporter
announced that the Computer Laboratory would change its name to the Department of Computer Science and Technology from 1 October 2017, to reflect the broadened scope of its purpose and activities.
[7]
The department currently offers a 3-year undergraduate course and a 1-year masters course (with a large selection of specialised courses in various research areas). Recent research has focused on
virtualisation
,
security
,
usability
,
formal verification
,
formal semantics of programming languages
,
computer architecture
,
natural language processing
,
mobile computing
,
wireless networking
,
biometric identification
,
robotics
,
routing
,
positioning systems
and
sustainability
(
"Computing for the future of the planet"
). Members have been involved in the creation of many successful UK
IT
companies such as
Acorn
,
[8]
ARM
,
[9]
nCipher and
XenSource
.
[10]
[11]
Staff
[
edit
]
Professors
[
edit
]
As of 2024
[update]
, the department employs 34 professors.
[12]
Notable ones include:
Other notable staff include
Sue Sentance
,
Robert Watson
,
Markus Kuhn
.
Former staff
[
edit
]
Former staff include:
Heads of the Computer Laboratory
[
edit
]
The lab has been led by:
Achievements and innovations
[
edit
]
Members have made impact in computers, Turing machines,
microprogramming, subroutines, computer networks, mobile protocols, security,
programming languages, kernels, OS, security, virtualisation, location badge
systems, etc. Below is a list.
Impact on business enterprise
[
edit
]
A number of companies have been founded by staff and graduates. Their names were featured in the new entrance in 2012.
[23]
Some cited examples of successful companies are
ARM
,
Autonomy
,
Aveva
,
CSR
and
Domino
. One common factor they share is that key staff or founder members are "drenched in university training and research".
[24]
The
Cambridge Computer Lab Ring
was praised for its "tireless work" by
Andy Hopper
in 2012, at its tenth anniversary dinner.
[25]
Notable alumni (industries)
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"
'People - Department of Computer Science'
"
. University of Cambridge. Archived from
the original
on 29 December 2022.
- ^
"Computer Laboratory - The History of the Computer Lab"
.
www.cl.cam.ac.uk
. Retrieved
6 May
2024
.
- ^
"A brief informal history of the Computer Laboratory"
.
www.cl.cam.ac.uk
. Retrieved
6 May
2024
.
- ^
Wilkes, W. V.
; Renwick, W. (1950).
"The EDSAC (Electronic delay storage automatic calculator)"
.
Math. Comp
.
4
(30): 61?65.
doi
:
10.1090/s0025-5718-1950-0037589-7
.
- ^
Wilkes, M.V. (1992). "EDSAC 2".
IEEE Annals of the History of Computing
.
14
(4). PDF available by "View PDF" (expand "View on IEEE"): 49?56.
doi
:
10.1109/85.194055
.
S2CID
11377060
.
- ^
"Cambridge Computer Lab Ring"
.
University of Cambridge
. Retrieved
28 March
2012
.
- ^
"Notices by the General Board ? Cambridge University Reporter 6473: Renaming of the Computer Laboratory"
. University of Cambridge. p. 753
. Retrieved
18 July
2017
.
- ^
"History of ARM: from Acorn to Apple"
. 6 January 2011. Archived from
the original
on 16 March 2018 – via The Telegraph.
- ^
"ARM's first press release"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 27 January 2016
. Retrieved
19 November
2015
.
- ^
"Xen"
. SourceForge.net. 2 October 2003
. Retrieved
18 October
2012
.
- ^
Jonathan Corbet (2 October 2003).
"The first stable Xen release"
. Lwn.net
. Retrieved
18 October
2012
.
- ^
"People: Faculty"
.
www.cst.cam.ac.uk
. Retrieved
6 May
2024
.
- ^
Ann Copestake
publications indexed by
Google Scholar
- ^
"ANDERSON, Prof. Ross John"
.
Who's Who
. Vol. 2014 (online edition via
Oxford University Press
ed.). A & C Black.
(Subscription or
UK public library membership
required.)
- ^
a
b
"HOPPER, Prof. Andrew"
.
Who's Who
. Vol. 2015 (online
Oxford University Press
ed.). A & C Black.
(Subscription or
UK public library membership
required.)
- ^
Hoffmann, L. (2010).
"Robin Milner: the elegant pragmatist"
.
Communications of the ACM
.
53
(6): 20.
doi
:
10.1145/1743546.1743556
.
- ^
Hoare, T.
;
Wilkes, M. V.
(2004). "
Roger Michael Needham
CBE FREng. 9 February 1935 ? 1 March 2003: Elected F.R.S. 1985".
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society
.
50
: 183.
doi
:
10.1098/rsbm.2004.0014
.
S2CID
58340004
.
- ^
Martin Richards
at
DBLP
Bibliography Server
- ^
Tait, J. I. (2007).
"Karen Sparck Jones"
.
Computational Linguistics
.
33
(3): 289?291.
doi
:
10.1162/coli.2007.33.3.289
.
S2CID
219302075
.
- ^
Campbell-Kelly, M.
(2006).
"David John Wheeler. 9 February 1927 -- 13 December 2004: Elected FRS 1981"
.
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society
.
52
: 437.
doi
:
10.1098/rsbm.2006.0030
.
- ^
Campbell-Kelly, M.
(2014).
"Sir Maurice Vincent Wilkes 26 June 1913 -- 29 November 2010"
.
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society
.
60
: 433?454.
doi
:
10.1098/rsbm.2013.0020
.
- ^
url="
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/research/dtg/attarchive/ab.html
Archived
27 January 2013 at the
Wayback Machine
"
- ^
Quested, Tony (24 February 2012).
"Cambridge technology cluster thriving thanks to university dynamism"
.
Business Weekly
. Retrieved
13 March
2012
.
- ^
Vargas, Lautaro (5 March 2012).
"Cambridge University plans £30m VC fund and opens door to non-uni investment"
.
Cabume
. Cambridge
. Retrieved
14 March
2012
.
- ^
Quested, Tony (27 March 2012).
"Gates no barrier to Bango enterprise"
.
Business Weekly
. Retrieved
28 March
2012
.