 The Computer Laboratory has been housed in theWilliam Gates Building inWest Cambridge since August 2001. | |
Former names | Computer Laboratory Mathematical Laboratory |
|---|---|
| Established | 14 May 1937 (1937-05-14) |
| Head of Department | Professor Alastair Beresford |
Academic staff | 35 |
Administrative staff | 25 |
| Postgraduates | 155 |
| Location | William Gates Building, Cambridge ,United Kingdom 52°12′40″N0°05′31″E / 52.211°N 0.092°E /52.211; 0.092 |
| Website | www |
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TheDepartment of Computer Science and Technology, formerly theComputer Laboratory, is thecomputer science department of theUniversity of Cambridge. As of 2023[update] it employed 56faculty members, 45 support staff, 105 research staff, and about 205 research students.[1] The current Head of Department is Professor Alastair Beresford.
The department was founded as theMathematical Laboratory under the leadership ofJohn Lennard-Jones on 14 May 1937, though it did not get properly established until afterWorld War II.[2] The new laboratory was housed in the North Wing of the former Anatomy School, on theNew Museums Site. Upon its foundation, it was intended "to provide a computing service for general use, and to be a centre for the development of computational techniques in the University".
In October 1946, work began underMaurice Wilkes onEDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator), which subsequently became the world's first fully operational and practicalstored program computer when it ran its first program on 6 May 1949.[3] It inspired the world's first business computer,LEO. It was replaced byEDSAC 2, the first microcoded andbit-sliced computer, in 1958.[4]
TheCambridge Diploma in Computer Science was the world's first postgraduate taught course in computing, starting in 1953.[5]
In 1961,David Hartley developedAutocode, one of the firsthigh-level programming languages, forEDSAC 2. Also in that year, proposals forTitan, based on theFerranti 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 theComputer Laboratory, with separate departments for Teaching and Research and the Computing Service, providing computing services to the university and its colleges. The two did not fully separate until 2001, when the Computer Laboratory moved out to the new William Gates building inWest Cambridge, offMadingley Road, leaving behind an independentComputing Service.
In 2002, the Computer Laboratory launched theCambridge Computer Lab Ring, a graduate society designed by Stephen Allott[6] and named after theCambridge Ring network.[7]
On 30 June 2017, theCambridge University Reporter announced that the Computer Laboratory would change its name to the Department of Computer Science and Technology from 1 October 2017, to reflect the broadened scope of its purpose and activities.[8]
The department currently offers a 3-year undergraduate course and a 1-year masters course (with a large selection of specialised courses in various research areas). Recent research has focused onvirtualisation,security,usability,formal verification,formal semantics of programming languages,computer architecture,natural language processing,mobile computing,wireless networking,biometric identification,robotics,routing,positioning systems andsustainability ("Computing for the future of the planet"). Members have been involved in the creation of many successful UKIT companies such asAcorn,[9]ARM,[10] nCipher andXenSource.[11][12]
As of 2024[update], the department employs 34 professors.[13] Notable ones include:
Other notable staff includeSue Sentance,Robert Watson,Markus Kuhn.
Former staff include:
The lab has been led by:
Members have made impact in computers, Turing machines,microprogramming, subroutines, computer networks, mobile protocols, security, programming languages, kernels, OS, security, virtualisation, location badgesystems, etc. Below is a list.
A number of companies have been founded by staff and graduates. Their names were featured in the new entrance in 2012.[24] Some cited examples of successful companies areARM,Autonomy,Aveva,CSR andDomino. One common factor they share is that key staff or founder members are "drenched in university training and research".[25] TheCambridge Computer Lab Ring was praised for its "tireless work" byAndy Hopper in 2012, at its tenth anniversary dinner.[26]
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