Gene Amdahl, IBM mainframe architect then a rival, has died

Gene M. Amdahl, chief architect of IBM's System/360 mainframe and later the creator of the IBM plug-compatible mainframe vendor that bore his name, has died aged 92.

Amdahl was born in South Dakota, earning a bachelor's degree in engineering physics at the state university in 1948.

In 1950, as a PhD student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he and Charles H. Davidson designed a digital computer. In 1952, the year Amdahl received his doctorate in theoretical physics, the university began building the computer, the Wisconsin Integrally Synchronized Computer (WISC).

However, Amdahl didn't stick around: In June that year, he joined IBM, where the company credits him with working on the IBM 704, the IBM 709, and then the Stretch project, which ultimately became the IBM 7030.

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