The Computer Laboratory at Cambridge is the University of Cambridge's computer science department. For much of its history it also provided computing facilites for the rest of the university.

On 2 December, 1936, the University's General Board published a Report on the Establishment of a Computing Laboratory intended to provide a computing service for general use, and to be a centre for the development of computational techniques in the University. The Mathematical Laboratory was subsequently founded on 14 May, 1937, under the leadership of John Lennard-Jones, though it did not get properly established until after World War II.

In October 1946, work began under Maurice Wilkes on EDSAC, which subsequently became the first fully-operational and practical stored program computer when it ran its first program on 6 May 1949.

The Cambridge Diploma in Computer Science was the world's first taught course in computing, starting in 1953.

The EDSAC 2 machine replaced EDSAC in 1958.

In 1961, D. F. Hartley developed Autocode 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. The two did not fully separate until 2001, when the Computer Laboratory moved out to the new William Gates building in West Cambridge, leaving behind an independent Computing Service.

Staff

Some staff working at the Laboratory include:

• Ross Anderson
• Markus Kuhn
• Robin Milner
• Maurice Wilkes

Former staff include:

• Roger Needham
• David Wheeler

Landmark projects

• CAP computer
• Cambridge Ring
• Cambridge Distributed Computing System

External links

• University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
• University of Cambridge Computing Service
• A brief informal history of the Computer Laboratory