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| Industry | Automotive andaerospace |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1901; 124 years ago (1901) |
| Defunct | 2002 (2002) |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | TRW Automotive,Northrop Grumman andGoodrich Corporation |
| Headquarters | Euclid, Ohio /Lyndhurst, Ohio, United States |
Key people | Simon Ramo,Dean Wooldridge |
| Products | Automotive,aerospace andcredit reporting |
Number of employees | 122,258 (2000)[1] |
| Subsidiaries | CAV,Girling, LucasVarity Automotive andLucas Aerospace |
TRW Inc. was an American corporation involved in a variety of businesses, mainlyaerospace,electronics,automotive, andcredit reporting.[2] It was a pioneer in multiple fields including electronic components, integrated circuits, computers, software andsystems engineering. TRW built manyspacecraft, includingPioneer 1,Pioneer 10, and severalspace-based observatories. It was #57 on the 1986 Fortune 500 list,[3] and had 122,258 employees.[1] The company was calledThompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc., after the 1958 merger of the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation and Thompson Products. This was later shortened to TRW.
The company was founded in 1901 and lasted for just over a century until being acquired byNorthrop Grumman in 2002. It spawned a variety of corporations, including Pacific Semiconductors,The Aerospace Corporation,Bunker-Ramo andExperian. Its automotive businesses were sold off by Northrop Grumman asTRW Automotive, which is now part ofZF Friedrichshafen. TRW veterans were instrumental in the founding of corporations likeSpaceX.[4][5]
In 1953, the company was recruited to lead the development of the United States' firstICBM.[6][7] Starting with the initial design byConvair, the multi-corporate team launchedAtlas in 1957.[8] It flew its full range in 1958 and was then adapted to fly theMercuryastronauts into orbit.[8] TRW also led development of theTitan missile,[6] which was later adapted to fly theGemini missions. The company served theU.S. Air Force as systems engineers on all subsequent ICBM development efforts[9] but TRW never produced any missile hardware because of theconflict of interest.[10] In 1960, Congress spurred the formation of the non-profitAerospace Corporation to provide systems engineering support to theU.S. government[6] but TRW continued to guide the ICBM efforts.
TRW originated in 1901 with theCleveland Cap Screw Company, founded by David Kurtz and four other Cleveland residents.[11] Their initial products were bolts with heads electrically welded to the shafts. In 1904, a welder named Charles E. Thompson adapted their process to making automobileengine valves[11] and by 1915, the company was the largest valve producer in theUnited States.[12] Charles Thompson was named general manager of the company, which becameThompson Products in 1926.[13] Their experimental hollowsodium-cooled valves aidedCharles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic.[12]
In 1937, Thompson Motor Products bought J.A. Drake and Sons (JADSON). The company made high-performance valves that were used in many racing engines of the day, including theMiller Offy. Dale Drake (son of J.A. Drake) bought the Offy engine design with his partner Louis Meyer in 1946 and won the Indianapolis 500 twenty-seven times, more than any other engine design.[14]
During the period leading up toWorld War II, through the end of theKorean war, Thompson Products was a key manufacturer of component parts for aircraft engines, including cylindervalves. The TAPCO plant, owned by the U.S. government but operated by Thompson Products, extended for almost a mile along Cleveland's Euclid Avenue. It employed over 16,000 workers at the peak of WW II production. As jet aircraft replaced piston-engined aircraft, Thompson Products became a major manufacturer of turbine blades for jet engines.
In 1950,Simon Ramo andDean Wooldridge while working forHughes Aircraft, led the development of theFalcon radar-guided missile, among other projects. They grew frustrated withHoward Hughes' management, and formed theRamo-Wooldridge Corporation in September 1953,[13] with the financial support of Thompson Products.[2] The detonation of a thermonuclear bomb by the Soviet Union spurredTrevor Gardner to form theTeapot Committee in October 1953. Chaired byJohn von Neumann, its purpose was to study the development ofballistic missiles, including ICBMs. Ramo and Wooldridge were committee members, and Ramo-Wooldridge Corp. became the lead contractor of the resulting ICBM development effort, reporting to theUnited States Air Force.
With continued backing from Thompson Products, Ramo-Wooldridge diversified into computers andelectronic components, founding Pacific Semiconductors in 1954.[15][16] They also produced scientific spacecraft such asPioneer 1. Thompson Products and Ramo-Wooldridge merged in October 1958 to form Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc., unofficially known as "TRW".[13] In February 1959,Jimmy Doolittle became chairman of the board of Space Technology Laboratories (STL), the division which continued to support the Air Force ICBM efforts.[13]
Other aerospace companies believed TRW's Air Force advisory role granted itunfair access to their technologies[15] and in September 1959, Congress issued a report recommending that STL be converted to a non-profit organization. With nearly half of STL's employees,[13]The Aerospace Corporation was formed in June 1960. It headed theAtlasconversion forMercury,Titan conversion forGemini, and provided ongoing systems engineering support for the government. The Air Force continued its ICBM work with TRW.[2]
Dean Wooldridge retired in January 1962[13] to become a professor atCalifornia Institute of Technology (Caltech).[2] Simon Ramo became president of theBunker-Ramo Corporation in January 1964, jointly owned by TRW andMartin Marietta for the production of computers andmonitors. Thompson Ramo Wooldridge officially became TRW Inc. in July 1965.[13] Free of anti-competitive restrictions short of ICBM hardware, STL was renamed TRW Systems Group that same month.[13] In 1968, the company entered the credit reporting industry by purchasing Credit Data Corporation and renaming it TRW Information Systems and Services Inc. The Credit Data group was formed in 1970[13] to compete withDun & Bradstreet,[2] from the combination of TRWISS andESL Incorporated[13] to specialize in technical strategicreconnaissance. TRW Information Systems and Services Division (Credit Data) wasspun off in 1996 to formExperian.[17] TRW acquiredLucasVarity in 1999, then selling Lucas Diesel Systems toDelphi Automotive andLucas Aerospace (then called TRW Aeronautical Systems) toGoodrich Corporation.[18]
The company was 57th[3] on the Fortune 500 list of highest revenue American companies in 1986 and had 122,258 employees in 2000.[1] It operated in 25 countries.[2]
On 3 February 1986, the TRW plant inHarrisburg, Pennsylvania, burned to the ground in aneight-alarm fire.[19] The damage was estimated to be greater than US$10 million and was the most serious fire to date in the area.
In February 2002,Northrop Grumman launched a US$5.9 billion hostile bid for TRW. Northrop Grumman,BAE Systems, andGeneral Dynamics contended for the company with Northrop's increased bid of US$7.8 billion ultimately being accepted on July 1, 2002. Soon afterward, the automotive assets of LucasVarity and TRW's own automotive group were sold toThe Blackstone Group asTRW Automotive.[20]
A portion of TRW's Lyndhurst campus was developed asLegacy Village. The headquarters building became home to the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute.[21] The TRW headquarters building was demolished in 2023.[22][23]
Bill Gates, the founder ofMicrosoft, says that he got "his first big break" at age fifteen, debugging energy-grid control software for TRW. "It was kind of scary", Gates said, realizing the things the program was going to help operate. "This thingneeds to work".[24]
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TRW Inc. was active in the development of missile systems and spacecraft, notably, the early development of the U.S. ICBM program under the leadership of theTeapot Committee led byJohn von Neumann. TRW pioneered systems engineering, creating the ubiquitousN2 chart and the modernfunctional flow block diagram. It served as the primarysource of systems engineering for the United States Air Force ballistic missile programs.[25]
Space Technology Laboratories (STL), then a division of Ramo-Wooldridge Corp., designed and produced the identicalpayloads forPioneer 0,Pioneer 1 andPioneer 2. These were intended to orbit and photograph theMoon, butlaunch vehicle problems prevented this.NASA launched Pioneer 1 as its first spacecraft on 11 October 1958.[26] It set a distance record from Earth, and provided data on the extent ofEarth's radiation belts.
Pioneer 10 and11 were nearly identical spacecraft, designed and fabricated by TRW Systems Group.[27] They were optimized for ruggedness since they were the first man-made objects to pass through theasteroid belt and Jupiter's radiation belt. Simplicity,redundancy, and use of proven components were essential.[28] As NASA's first all-atomic powered spacecraft,[29] these usedplutonium-238 units developed byTeledyne Isotopes.[30] Pioneer 10 carried eleven instruments and Pioneer 11 carried twelve for investigatingJupiter andSaturn, respectively.[31] Data was transmitted back to Earth at 8watts, 128bytes/s at Jupiter,[32] and 1 byte/s from further out. Pioneer 10 was the first man-made object to pass the planetary orbits and its lasttelemetry was received in 2002, thirty years after launch.[33]
TRW Systems Group designed and built the instrument package which performed theMartian biological experiments,[34] searching for life aboard the twoViking Landers launched in 1975. The 15.5 kg (34 lb) system performed four experiments on Martian soil using agas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) and a combined biological instrument.
TRW designed and built the followingspace observatories:
The teams developing the following observatories continued their work as part ofNorthrop Grumman Aerospace Systems:
TRW Systems Group designed and manufactured theVela series ofnuclear detection satellites which monitored the 1963 establishment of the nuclearPartial Test Ban Treaty.[36] Subsequently, they produced theAdvanced Vela series, first launched in 1967, which could detect nuclear air bursts using instruments calledbhangmeters. It had the first dual-spinattitude control system with the total systemmomentum controlled to zero.[37] The Vela and Advanced Vela satellites were the first to alert astronomers to the presence ofgamma-ray bursts. They also reported a mysterious apparentnuclear test now called theVela incident.
First launched in 1970, the company built all twenty-threereconnaissance satellites in theDefense Support Program (DSP), which are the principal components of theSatellite Early Warning System currently used by the United States. These are operated by theAir Force Space Command, and they detect missile or spacecraft launches and nuclear explosions using sensors that detect theinfrared emissions from these intense sources of heat. DuringDesert Storm, for example, DSP satellites were able to detect the launches of IraqiScud missiles and provide timely warnings to civilians and military forces inIsrael andSaudi Arabia.[38]
The initial sevenTracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) were built by TRW to improve communication coverage for theSpace Shuttle,International Space Station (ISS), and U.S. military satellites. When first launched in 1983, the TDRS satellites were the largest, most sophisticatedcommunications satellites built at the time.[39] The seventh vehicle in the series was ordered as a replacement whenTDRS-B was lost in theChallenger accident.
Launched in 2002, TRW produced theAqua spacecraft based on their modular standardizedsatellite bus.[40] A joint project of theU.S. Global Change Research Program (NASA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), andNational Institute for Space Research (INPE),Brazil, Aqua delivers 750Gigabytes per day detailing the Earth'swater cycle in the oceans, lakes, atmosphere,polar ice caps, andvegetation.
TRW designed and built thedescent engine or (LMDE) for theApollo lunar lander. Due to the need for a soft landing on the Moon, it was the firstthrottleable engine forcrewed space flight. This, and the requirements for highthrust,low weight, and crushability (in case of landing on a large rock),[16] earned surprising praise from NASA's history pages, considering the complexity of the lunar missions: "The lunar module descent engine probably was the biggest challenge and the most outstanding technical development of Apollo".[41] This engine was used onApollo 13 to achievefree return trajectory and make a minor course correction after damage to theService Module.
After the Apollo program Moon landings, the LMDE was further developed into the TRWTR-201 engine. This engine was used in the second stage Delta-P of theDelta launch vehicle for 77 launches between 1972–1988.
At the turn of 1964-65, the United States started the ambitious Bushmaster program to create small-caliber assault guns for arming promisinginfantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) of the American Army. The result of this program was the creation of a whole series of automatic cannons with an external automatic drive in caliber from 25 to 40 mm, which received their own general nameBushmaster.
At the early stage of American research, TRW was one of the companies involved in the development of automatic guns of the Bushmaster program, where, under the leadership of engineerEugene Stoner, the author of the famousM16 rifle, a 25 mm automatic cannon was developed under the internal designationTRW model 6425, an ordinary system with automatic gas venting and locking the barrel with a rotary bolt is enough.[42]
The TRW-6425 design was later bought byOerlikon-Bührle, it was improved and manufactured as theOerlikon KBA 25 mm.[43][44]
The Ramo-Wooldridge Corp formed Pacific Semiconductors in June 1954, under the leadership of Harper North who had been head of electronicsR+D atHughes Aircraft Company. The funding for this endeavor from Thompson Products was about ten times their initial investment in Ramo-Wooldridge.[15][16] The original goal was to produce the recently invented transistor for commercial sales.
In 1957, Howard Sachar and Sanford "Sandy" Barnes invented theVaricap electronic component (also known as the varactor diode) at Pacific Semiconductors.[45] This device reduced the physical size of radio tuners and eliminated the need for moving mechanical parts. This simplified the implementation of remote control TV tuners. Sachar and Barnes were awarded an Emmy in 2007.[46]
The company manufactured the RW-300 for sales in 1959, one of the first"all-transistor" computers[15] with apower supply that usedvacuum tubes. The computer was targeted atindustrial control applications, with 1024analog inputsmultiplexed to a 1.9Ksample/s 10-bitanalog-to-digital converter which wastransparent to the programmer. It weighed about 600 lb (270 kg).[47][48] Thereal-time operating system was written by John Neblett, and was the intellectual precursor of theRSX-11 operating system for thePDP-11.[49]
The TRW-130 computer was introduced in 1961,[50][51] and designated theAN/UYK-1 by theU.S. Navy as part of its pre-GPSTRANSIT (NAVSAT)satellite-based location system. It usedDoppler shifts to compute a location in about 15 minutes, and had rounded corners to allow installation in submarines.
TheTransistor Transistor Logic (TTL) logic gate, which was the electronics industry standard for two decades, was invented by TRW'sJames L. Buie in 1961.
In 1965, engineers Don Nelson and Dick Pick at TRW developed the Generalized Information Retrieval Language and System, for use by theU.S. Army to control the inventory ofCheyenne helicopter parts. This developed into thePick Database Management System which is still in use as of 2016.[52]
TRW LSI Products, Inc. was a wholly owned subsidiary formed to commercialize the integrated circuit technology the company had developed in support of its aerospace business. They produced some of the first commercially availabledigital signal processing ICs including theTDC1008multiplier-accumulator.[53] They also made the first 8-bitflash ADC IC, the TDC1007,[54] resulting in anEmmy Award for analog/digital video conversion technology.[55] TRW also pioneeredgallium arsenide (GaAs) chip applications forlocal multipoint distribution service (LMDS) systems, radios, and satellite communications.[56]
Bel Canto Stereophonic Recordings, a TRW subsidiary, was a record label active from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s.[57]
Christopher John Boyce was a TRW employee convicted ofselling security secrets to theSoviet Union via the Soviet embassy inMexico City in the mid-1970s. Boyce and his accomplice,Andrew Daulton Lee, were the subjects of the best-selling 1979Robert Lindsey bookThe Falcon and the Snowman, and the 1985 film of the same title.
Representatives from Space Technology Laboratories (STL) present their ICBM expertise to Don and Pete inMad Men season 2 episode "The Jet Set".[58]
TheStar Trek: The Original Series season 1 episode "Operation -- Annihilate!" (13 April 1967) was filmed on the then-TRW campus (now Northrop Grumman'sSpace Park) inRedondo Beach, California. The two sets of stairs shown are those leading to the cafeteria of Building S.[59]William Shatner had previously filmed at the TRW campus for theOuter Limits episode "Cold Hands, Warm Heart". In the episode, he plays an astronaut for "Project Vulcan". The 1967 sci-fi filmCountdown, also filmed at the TRW Space Park.
The TRW building is supposedly one of the credit company buildings demolished in the 1999 filmFight Club. This is because at the time the book was written, TRW was in the business of credit reporting. However, there is no TRW building inDelaware, where the demolition purportedly happens.[60]
TRW equipment/boxes can be seen stored and being unloaded in the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind during scenes filmed at Devils Tower.
In the 1960s and 1970s, TRW storedtrichloroethylene (TCE), a critical chemical for cooling and degreasingcomputer chips, in tanks deep underground inSunnyvale, California for later use.[70] TCE is also found in household cleaners.[71] As a result of pipe and tank degradation, the tanks leaked into the ground, resulting in contaminated soil and groundwater.[72] TCE was later determined to be toxic to humans at high concentrations. In 2013,The Atlantic referred to the site as a "paved-over environmental disaster zone".[73]
In the 1980s, the US introduced the federalSuperfund program to clean up the country's toxic waste sites.[74] The site TRW (now Northrop Grumman) is responsible for is called the 'TRW Microwavesite'.[75][76][77] TheUnited States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) worked with TRW to treat the water withultraviolet light andoxygenation and excavate the contaminated soil.[78] In 1994, a public health study determined that the groundwater was still unacceptably contaminated, which can causevapor intrusion.[79][80] The EPA says the site has institutional controls to protect people from contact with affected water. Drinking water in the area comes fromHetch Hetchy and municipal wells.[81]
In the 2000s, abioremediation method developed byStanford University using bacteria in molasses to naturally breakdown the TCE into harmless sub-compounds was implemented.[82][83] Other measures included engineering vapor pathways to avoid direct human contact by releasing it into the air.[84] Jared Blumenfeld, the former EPA director, said that TCE released in the air after the cleanup efforts reduces the concentrations to levels that eliminate health risks.[85] Blumenfeld said that airborne TCE is not ideal, but the cleanup has reduced the toxins by 90% as of 2013[update], according to Max Shahbacian, the project's lead atCalifornia State Water Resources Control Board before it was transferred to the EPA, and geologist Michael Calhoun.[86][87]
In 2014 and 2015, a newly required vapor intrusion test of the surrounding residential area, including homes, apartment buildings, and four schools, showed unacceptable levels of TCE.[88][89] A 2011 study had revealed TCE caused birth defects andcancer by all pathways of exposure.[90][91][92] In 2014, the region's congressional representativeAnna Eshoo expressed concerns that the EPA had not been properly monitoring the site and notififying residents of a possible health issue.[93] The EPA litigated with the responsible parties in order update its notification and testing measures to warn residents about possible exposure as early as possible and keeping people away from any unsafe areas.[94]
As of 2016[update], the site is owned by GI Partners, an investment company, and has been leased byApple Inc. since 2015 for research and development as of 2021[update].[95][96][97] The octagonal glass building[73] was renovated in 2014 and made available for occupancy in 2015. The safety of the site was verified by the EPA.[98] In 2016, theDonald Trump administration cut funding the Superfund program by $330 million and EPA funding by more than 30%, resulting in a significant reduction in enforcement and testing.[99][100][101] During his presidency, the EPA increased its use of consent decrees, or administrative settlements, to ensure progress continued under the budget cuts, forcing responsible parties to pay for the cleanup. Scott Pruitt, Trump's head of the EPA threatened to cut budgets again for the enforcement.[102][103][104] In 2019, the EPA andPhilips Semiconductors agreed to a consent decree, with Northrop Grumman as a signatory, to fund the remaining cleanup and monitoring of the site, along with two nearby sites collectively known as the "Triple Site".[105][106]
In March 2021,Ashley Gjøvik, a former Apple program manager, publicized concerns that the site had not been properly tested since 2015 after receiving an email from Apple notifying employees of forthcoming vapor intrusion testing.[107][108] An EPA study in 2019 had confirmed the previous remedies effective,[109] but Gjøvik toldTechCrunch cracks in the floor were exposing employees to carcinogenic fumes.[110] She filed awhistleblower complaint with theOccupational Safety and Health Administration against Apple,[111] which was investigated and dismissed.[112][113] A site evaluation by the EPA done in August 2021 found that the likelihood for vapor intrusion was low and not expected.[114] Based on field testing done between April 24, 2023 and May 5, 2023, the EPA concluded that vapor intrusion was being prevented.[115]
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