C. Robert Wieser (January 19, 1919 – March 1, 2011) qualified from MIT as an electrical engineer and later became a developer of electrical and computing technology. He was especially and particularly noted for having contributed to the development of the Cape Cod Air Defense system ( Cape Cod Air Force Station) and SAGE system. Wieser directed the first successful testing of the technology necessary for the creation of an airborne interception system (using radar and computers), which from this embryonic state, would later develop into the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment system (SAGE). The SAGE system led to the development of technology known as

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, which contributed directly, from being a composite element of

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scien ...

, to the creation of the

ARPANET The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was the first wide-area packet-switched network with distributed control and one of the first networks to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite. Both technologies became the technical fou ...

and ultimately the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

.(accessdate also 2015-08-05)

Short biography

Wieser was born Charles Robert Wieser in New Rochelle, New York on January 19, 1919. The following information shows a biographical history of C. Robert Wieser made using three sources: * 1940 - graduated from MIT with a Bachelor in Science in Electrical Engineering and a Masters of Science in the subject Electrical Engineering. * from 1940 to 1942 - worked for the Boston Edison Company. * worked for MIT Servornechanisms Laboratory, developing the application of the

Whirlwind I Whirlwind I was a Cold War-era vacuum tube computer developed by the MIT Servomechanisms Laboratory for the U.S. Navy. Operational in 1951, it was among the first digital electronic computers that operated in real-time for output, and the firs ...

to air traffic control and subsequently to air defence usage (circa 1949). * 1951 - joined the MIT

Lincoln Laboratory The MIT Lincoln Laboratory, located in Lexington, Massachusetts, is a United States Department of Defense federally funded research and development center chartered to apply advanced technology to problems of national security. Research and d ...

, where he was leader of a group developing the Cape Cod Air Defense Direction Center, and involved in the preparation of the operational and mathematical specifications for the SAGE air defence system. Later he was appointed as head, assistant director, and finally as deputy director of the Systems Division. * 1968 - was employed at the

Office of the Secretary of Defense The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) is a headquarters-level staff of the United States Department of Defense. It is the principal civilian staff element of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and it assists the Secretary in carrying out aut ...

. * 1971 - appointed as director of the Advanced Weapons Programs within the Douglas Astronautics Company. * 1982 - vice president and general manager of the Western Division of Physical Dynamics, Inc., RES Operations * 1985 - Director of Engineering at Science Applications International Corporation (

Newport Beach Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws ...

, California). Wieser died on March 1, 2011, aged 92.

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* Paul N. Edwards
The Closed World: Computers and the Politics of Discourse in Cold War America
MIT Press 1997 (reprint, revised) ''Inside technology'', 440 pages, {{DEFAULTSORT:Wieser, C. Robert Electronics engineers Radar pioneers 1919 births 2011 deaths MIT Lincoln Laboratory people

Short biography

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