3-17-98

Contact:
Skip Derra, News Service, (515) 294-4917


ISU PRESIDENT JISCHKE AND ABC REPLICA IN WATERLOO

AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University President Martin Jischke and the Atanasoff-Berry Computer replica will be in Waterloo, Monday, March 23. Jischke has several speaking engagements in Waterloo, and the ABC replica will be on display at an alumni reception at the Grout Museum.

At 11:50 a.m., Jischke will speak to Waterloo Rotary, which will be meeting at the Holiday Inn Convention Center. Jischke will discuss the role ISU plays in Iowa's economic development. At 1:15 p.m., Jischke will visit Waterloo East High School and speak to students.

The authentic working replica of the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC), the first electronic digital computer, will be on display from 5 to 7 p.m. at an ISU Alumni Association reception at the Grout Museum. The public is invited to the reception to view the replica.

The original ABC was invented by John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry at Iowa State during 1939-42. Work on the original ABC was interrupted by World War II. The ABC was never patented and eventually scavenged for parts. The replica was built to honor Atanasoff and Berry. The replica was constructed over the past three years by a team of scientists, technicians and students at Ames Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy facility at Iowa State.

Waterloo is the seventh stop on the replica's Iowa tour. It has been displayed in Ames, Ottumwa, Dubuque, Cedar Rapids, the Quad Cities and Sioux City. Its formal unveiling was Oct. 8 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

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Revised 3/17/98