History of IEEE Technology
This page will contain a variety of tidbits of information about technology (within IEEE fields of interest), its development, and the people who contributed - with a Toronto connection. The initial content has been identified and is being converted to a web-based format as a result of the preparations for the IEEE Toronto Centennial and the multimedia show which was presented at the Centennial Banquet. During the preparation of that show, not all the information collected could be displayed. This space will allow this information to be made available. (this page is being started on November 6, 2003 with one item)
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1922 Ted Rogers Sr. in his pioneering home telegraph station in 1922 as captured in the image to the right. Ted developed the AC vacuum tube which led to his development of the first battery-less radio in 1925 which is commemorated in a special stamp set - far right. He also designed a special transmitter to use Rogers A/C Tubes and in 1927 radio station CFRB Toronto went on the air. The call-letters chosen by Ted Rogers represent ‘Canada’s First Rogers Batteryless’. The broadcast strength and strong clarity of CFRB, the first all-electric station in the world, made it one of the best in North America. Please click for more about Ted Rogers.

1944 Bill Lower The left image is part of a larger picture in a history of RADAR collection (click to view the entire picture) that records IEEE Toronto member Bill Lower M.B.E. part in early radar use in WW1. For more on this subject, view the Canadian History of Radar on the Canadian War Museum web site. The right image is of a High Voltage 6 diode bridge - part of a transmitter which communicated with the troops in Europe starting in 1944. In 1969 Bill was the general chairman of the International Electrical & Electronics Conference and Exhibition (IEEC) in Toronto. Later, as a director of IEEC inc, he was one of the key volunteers in transforming IEEEC Inc. into the IEEE Canadian Foundation. Please click for more about Bill Lower.

1974 Kenneth Iverson was a mathematician whose intense fascination with words and syntax led him to create an early programming language that inspired a generation of computer programmers. International Business Machines Ltd. took note of what he had done, and in 1962 lured him from Harvard to develop APL as a language for use in its new IBM System 360 mainframe computers. He took three colleagues along with him to IBM -- Larry Breed, Roger Moore and Greg Rothwell -- who were later awarded the Grace Hopper Award for the subsequent implementation of APL based on the principles laid down by Mr. Iverson. Initially, it was bundled with what are considered to be the world's first microcomputers, made in Toronto by MCM Computers Ltd., in 1974 -- at least two years before Apple introduced its desktop machine. Please click for more about Ken Iverson.