Route 128: The Defense Connection in the Rise of America’s First “High Tech” Region

Life Members and co-sponsored by AESS Chapter and the New Hampshire Life Members Affinity Group

Alan R. Earls – Journalist, Regional Historian

Greater Boston was a region noted for machine tools, textiles, shoes and staid financial institutions far more than for its electrical and electronic know-how. All that changed during World War II thanks to two major developments. The first was the launch of the Radiation  Lab at MIT, with a focus on radar and all things electronic. The second, closely related, was Percy Spencer’s production breakthrough at Raytheon which allowed for low-cost mass production of magnetrons.

That regional advantage might have evaporated after the war but for military competition with the Soviet Union – which helped ensure a river of federal money flowing to the region for decades to come. Some of the notable efforts that were important in themselves as well as highly influential long-term included:

• The Whirlwind computer, which pioneered real-time digital computing.
• The Cape Cod System and the SAGE air defense computer
• Radar-guided missiles
• High-speed A/D converters
• AI research

This presentation provides a broad-brush overview of some of the remarkable companies, and personalities, as well as the key programs that were developed in Greater Boston and along its then-brand-new Route 128 beltway during the post-war period. The foundational role of these defense-oriented activities relative to the region’s subsequent importance in minicomputers, software, robotics, etc., will also be discussed.

Alan Earls grew up in the Route 128 area. His father was a manufacturing engineer at a pioneer transistor company and both he and his father worked at several defense firms in the region. Prior to becoming a freelance writer and author, Earls was editor of Mass High Tech newspaper and of  Industry magazine. He continues to write about technology for magazines, websites, and business clients. He is the author or co-author of several books including: Route 128 and the Birth of the Age of High Tech, Polaroid, Raytheon: The first 60 years, US Army Natick Lab, Watertown Arsenal, and Digital Equipment Corporation.

The meeting will be held at the Lincoln Lab Auditorium, 244 Wood Street., Lexington, MA at 4:00 PM and is being co-sponsored by AESS Chapter and the New Hampshire Life Members Affinity Group. Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM. Registration is in the main lobby. Foreign national visitors to Lincoln Lab require visit requests. Please pre-register by e-mail to reception@ll.mit.edu and indicate your citizenship. Please use the Wood Street Gate. For directions go to http://www.ll.mit.edu/.  For other information, contact Len Long, Chairman, at (781)894-3943, or l.long@ieee.org. or Steve Teahan at steahan@comcast.net.   If you would like to be on the Life Members database so we can inform you of special programs including field trips plus added events like a global warming debate, please send us an e-mail with your contact information.  This meeting is cosponsored by the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS).