Retirees of UNISYS and Lockheed Martin MS2
Twin Cities Information Technology Pioneers
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Legacy, LMCO
1. Introduction
Our 60+year LEGACY of Information Technology (IT) developments and applications started in 1946 with Engineering Research Associates (ERA) at 1902 Minnehaha Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota.  This Information Age LEGACY merged and diverged through the corporate ownerships of Remington Rand, UNIVAC, Sperry, UNISYS, PARAMAX, and Loral.  The LEGACY continues today at Lockheed Martin MS2 in Eagan, Minnesota with deliveries of reliable digital systems, hardware, installations, operational software, support services, and IT training.  Several threads weave their way through these corporate ownerships:
  • People Performing in Partnership with customers to solve complex system information and control problems!
  • A resilient cadre of management and engineering personnel with military training/experiences applied to understanding the problems facing government customers.
  • Systems for processing of real-time signals and data from radar, sonar, and other sensors to provide users with operational informatin and action options.
  • Computer Instruction Set Architectures (ISA) normalized over several product line generations
  • Availability of technology researchers and new graduates from the world-class Institute of Technology at the University of Minnesota (U of MN) and other midwest colleges.
     Our Twin Cities military and commercial operations were tightly coupled until the late 80s.  During our LEGACY, a few management and engineering personnel left to form other companies, most notable was the 1957 creation of Control Data Corporation led by Bill Norris.  With him was Seymour Cray who later left CDC to establish the the super computer company "Cray".  This site and the LEGACY mention some of these computer industry pioneers but do not attempt to follow their accomplishments outside of the LEGACY.
     Foremost throughout this LEGACY are the people - now contributing to this site and associated documents - most enjoying retiree camaraderie, others still working at UNISYS, LMCO, and elsewhere. 

On this page, scroll to: 

  1.  Introduction
  2.  Legacy Level 1 Page Descriptions
  3.  Corporate Name History
  4.  Background - How we got started on this 'history' project.

2. Legacy Project Level 1 Page Descriptions

Legacy, LMCO- The Twin Cities commercial operations trace parts of their heritage back to the Eckert Mauchley Corporation in Philadelphia. Burroughs - This corporation had Twin Cities' offices before their 1986 buyout of Sperry.

People - Over 150 project experiences and career summaries from and about the people who have lived this Legacy.

Engineering - Our designs transition all electronic generations; vacuum tubes, transistors, integrated circuits, micro-processors, application specific integrated circuits, ... We've included Software, Field Service/Training, Antenna Couplers, Patents, Peripherals, and Interfacing subsections thereunder.

Computers - The world's first stored-program cryptography computer in October 1950, Aerospace computers, Navy shipboard computers, airborne search computers, ..., drone control embedded processors.

Systems - Aerospace, Airborne, Naval Tactical Data Systems, Air Traffic Control, Marine Systems, Air Force, ASOC, Postal, and Others.
Facilities - Not only the Twin Cities, but facilities throughout the U.S. and a few overseas sites. Marketing Offices, Technical Services Division (TSD), Canada, etc. 
Links/Site Map - Many web sites provide related information about our heritage.  A site map and links to a few other local sites are provided. 

   Thanks to the retirees and active employees who have contributed to the Legacy project.

      Thanks to the Lockheed Martin MS2 and UNISYS management for their resolve to preserve this LEGACY for future generations. 

    Thanks to the Charles Babbage Institute staff for their help in sorting through hundreds of archive boxes and their willingness to accept further documents. [lab]  

3. Corporate Name History

    Engineering Research Associates (ERA) came out of the second world war.  Our six plus decade LEGACY spans the world's Information Technology evolution since then, including many corporate ownership changes.  UNIVersal Automatic Computer technologies became the heart of the information age as defense systems grew to counter the threat of communism. Our systems are at work today helping to combat terrorism and keep your airline flights safe. [lab]

Thanks to John Skonnord for this 'logo' time chart.

Thanks to Keith Behnke for this ownership date table.   

 Date

Ownership CorporationTwin Cities Company Name
January 1946Engineering Research Associates Engineering Research Associates 
May 1952Remington Rand Engineering Research Associates  
July 1955 Sperry Rand Remington Rand, Engineering Research Associates Division  
October 1955Sperry Rand Remington Rand UNIVAC, Military Division 
January 1962Sperry Rand Remington Rand UNIVAC, Defense Systems Division 
January 1967Sperry Rand Sperry Rand UNIVAC, Federal Systems Division  
January 1973Sperry Rand Sperry UNIVAC, Defense Systems Division 
August 1979Sperry Sperry UNIVAC 
April 1983Sperry Sperry Computer Systems, Defense Systems Division 
November 1986 UNISYS UNISYS Defense Systems, Computer Systems Div. 
January 1990UNISYS UNISYS Defense Systems, Electronic & Information Systems Group 
November 1991*UNISYS PARAMAX Electronic & Information Systems Group  
December 1991PARAMAX PARAMAX Electronics Systems  
January 1994**UNISYS UNISYS CSG, Electronics Systems  
May 1995*** LORAL LORAL Defense Systems - Eagan 
April 1996****Lockheed Martin Tactical Systems Lockheed Martin Tactical Defense Systems  
June 1997Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin Tactical Defense Systems, Eagan  
January 2000Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems, Eagan  
June 2000Lockheed Martin  Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems, Tactical Systems
August 2003Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors (MS2), Tactical Systems, Eagan  
  

* UNISYS separated its defense business and named it PARAMAX while contemplating doing a spinoff via an IPO.
** The spin off concept projections didn't meet the financial objective so the PARAMAX 'entity' was terminated.
*** The defense business portion of UNISYS was sold to LORAL.
**** LORAL sold most of the defense business section to Lockheed Martin

4. Background, how our Legacy Project got started and recent Project milestones

 

March 2008 - Transfer of information to this site from Lowell's personal site has been completed.  Ole retired from LMCO, John Westergren has taken his place as co-chair of the committee.

 

October, 2007 - The VIP Club Board of Directors authorized this web site to combine VIP Club outreach information with LEGACY writings of both defense [LMCO] and commercial [UNISYS] operations history. [lab]

January, 2007 - The Legacy committee has coined the title "Information Technology Pioneering" as the lead in for the site and as potential title for the book that evolves from this LEGACY initiative.  All who contribute their bits and bytes to the documentation of our LEGACY initiative are indeed Information Technology Pioneers as were so many of our compatriots who have passed away. [lab]

Late in 2005 - Eagan based Lockheed Martin MS2 requested CLUB assistance in gathering artifacts and information for use in documenting the history and legacy of the St. Paul based defense systems organization which they'd acquired from Loral in the 1990's.  When the VIP CLUB and LMCO Legacy committee members met at the Babbage Institute on January 12, 2006, Lowell Benson volunteered his personal web site as an initial place to gather and display information. [lab]

VIP Page 10 updated 03 June, 2008