Sam Fuller
and Jeff Kalb have been named vice president reporting to Jack
Smith, vice president, Manufacturing and Engineering. Both
will remain heads of their respective operations—Research and
Architecture, and LSI-- which they served as Group managers
until their recent promotions.
Sam joined
Digital in 1978 as the Engineering manager for the VAX
Architecture Group. Since then, he has held a variety of
positions in Engineering and was instrumental in setting the
direction of Digital's Systems Architecture .
Jeff joined
Digital in 1981 as associate manager for the LSI Group in
Hudson, Mass. He was named group manager of LSI in 1982 and
has been instrumental in establishing Digital's strong
position in semiconductor technology.
The Making Of MicroVAX
Eighteen
months ago, parallel engineering efforts began at DECWEST,
near Seattle, Washington, at Hudson and Maynard,
Massachusetts, and at the Spit Brook facility in Nashua, New
Hampshire. Those efforts are now coming to fruition as a
family of 32-bit microprocessor products -- the MicroVAX
program. The result is the user gets full VAX/VMS
compatibility in a compact, low-cost computing system.
"MicroVAX is
to the VAX family what the LSI-11 was to the PDP-11 family,"
explains Roy Moffa, manager, MicroVAX Program Office. "It will
open new markets and become the standard in the industry for
small, 32-bit single- user and multi-user systems, as part of
a Digital network. The program includes three new systems and
three new software products."
The first
system, MicroVAX I, was announced Oct. 18, together with
VAXElan, a VAX-compatible development system for building
standalone, real-time applications for both VAX and MicroVAX
systems. These products were developed by the 20 engineers at
DECWEST, under the leadership of Dave Cutler.
Meanwhile,
software engineers at Spit Brook under Dick Hustvedt have
developed MicroVMS, a general-purpose, modular version of the
VMS operating system designed specifically for MicroVAX
computers. And other engineers under Bill Munson at Tewksbury
are developing ULTRIX, a native UNIX* operating system for
the MicroVAX family.
The
technical definition and rules for the MicroVAX family were
first set down in January of 1982. In April, Bob Supnik from
the Hudson semiconductor facility began developing a
single-chip processor using advanced technology. At that same
time, Dave Cutler took on the task of developing a multi-chip
version of that same processor concept, using commercially
available technology. His goal was "time to market," to
produce a machine in just 18 months (half the normal
development time) to meet the formal definition that had been
agreed upon. His group met all its goals, giving Digital an
important competitive edge in this emerging marketplace.
The crowning
glory of the development effort came in the last weeks of
September, according to Roy Moffa. "Within a couple weeks of
receiving from the vendor the custom semiconductor chips they
had designed, DECWEST had the diagnostics and VAXElan running
on a prototype machine. Then Dick Hustvedt and Kathy Morse
flew to DECWEST and got Micro/VMS to run in less than a week.
This software had been developed using a simulator at the same
time the hardware was being designed 3000 miles away. Thanks
to rigorous discipline, close communications over the
Engineering Network and excellent engineering, the products of
these two separate and complex projects worked well together
on nearly the first try. That's an amazing feat."
"MicroVAX I
is completely VMS compatible at the layered, non-privileged
mode level," notes Roy Moffa. "That means that all the
applications software and tools for the development of
software are instantaneously available."
"We have a
28-megabyte disk system in a small package for $17,000 . With
10-megabytes, it's $14,000. And if you buy no disk at all,
just in a box, for OEM use, it's $9995. That's incredible," he
concludes. Shipments will start in February.
MicroVAX I
is intended to pave the way for the rest of the program. The
single chip processor, the heart of the MicroVAX II system, is
also keeping to an aggressive scheduled and is due out in
FY85. MicroVAX III is also underway in Littleton, Mass.
*UNIX is a
trademark of Bell Laboratories, Inc.
New Rainbow & Comprehensive
Service For Personal Computers
On September
27, Digital announced an addition to the Rainbow personal
computer series and a new comprehensive service program for
all the personal computers.
The new
Rainbow 100+ includes a 10-megabyte Winchester hard disk and
128 kilobytes of system memory (expandable to 896 KB). It is
already in volume production and will be available throughout
the U.S. by the end of October and in selected markets outside
the U.S. starting in November.
A service and
warranty package, called the Investment Protection Plan,
provides buyers of the Rainbow, Professional and DECmate II
with on-site warranty service including parts and labor,
call-in customer support for hardware and software, updates
for selected operating systems and a limited-offer, 30-day
money-back return policy. Many of these features extend up to
one full year.
"DEC’S
Warranty Perceived As Boon to Small Business," read a headline
in Computer World. "... for small business and home
users it might just be enough to clinch the sale," the article
affirmed.
"The
Investment Protection Plan backs our promise that Digital
produces the highest quality, most reliable products," says
Joel Schwartz, vice president, Small Systems Group. "It
extends this commitment with coverage that is strongest where
it is needed most — at the retail level, where individuals
from small and medium-sized businesses, who typically need the
most start-up help and support, tend to buy personal
computers."
European Senior Managers
Exchange Postions
At the end
of this fiscal year, Geoff Shingles, vice president and
European Country Group manager, will reassume responsibility
as manager for United Kingdom, Ireland and the Middle East.
Darryl Barbe, U.K. managing director, will take over as
European Country Group Manager. Geoff’s transfer was planned
at the time of his original move to Geneva in • 1977. His return will bring
back international and corporate experience to the
U.K.—-Digital's largest subsidiary outside of the U.S.
For the past
seven years, Darryl has successfully run the U.K., Ireland and
Middle East operations and coupled with his previous
international experience, he will bring a unique perspective
to his new role. Beginning in FY85, he will be responsible for
all the country operations in Europe with the exception of UK,
Ireland, Italy, Germany and France.
At the
beginnning of FY85, Geoff and Darryl will formally exchange
positions. In the interim, they will work closely to handle
the transition period.
F&A Manager Named For
U.S. Area
Tom
Colatosti has been appointed U.S. Area Finance and
Administration manager reporting to Ivan Pollack, Field
Operations Finance. He will be responsible for all accounting
and administrative services for all Field business activities
in the U.S. Area.
Tom has been
with Digital for ten years, and most recently was the F&A
manager for Canada. Prior to moving to Canada, Tom was a
member of the Corporate Financial Planning staff and
previously spent four years as Controller for the Educational
Products Group.
Corporate
Purchasing Manager Appointed
Ron Payne
has been appointed Corporate Purchasing Manager responsible
for the management of purchasing practices and vendor
relations worldwide. Ron joined Digital in 1977 as purchasing
manager for the Springfield Manufacturing facility. In 1978,
he was promoted to Springfield plant manager, a position he
held until his recent appointment. He now reports to Bill
Thompson, vice president, External Resources and Corporate
Materials.
Western Region Sales Has New
Manager
Joe DiNucci has been appointed as Western
Region Sales manager replacing Gale Morgan, who has left to
head the Artificial Intelligence Marketing group. Joe joined
Digital in 1972 as a Sales engineer in Cleveland, Ohio, and
has held several Sales Management positions since then, including manager of Compupter
Special Systems West. Since 1980, Joe has been District Sales
manager for Santa Calra, California.
Plant Manager Named For
Franklin Mfg. Facility
Mary Couming has been appointed plant manager
for the Franklin, Massachusetts, facility. She is part of the
Computer Systems Manufacturing staff and reports to Lou
Gaviglia, CSM Administration.
Mary has held a variety of operational,
streategic and business positions in her six years at Digital,
most recently as the Work Stations Manufacturing manager. "Mary
is leaving this position with wide spread respect for her
successful management of the introduction of the Work Stations
product into Manufacturing," says Loud. "And because of her
success, we are sure this product will be praised for meeting
time to market, quality and cost goals." May will now develop
the one-year-old Franklin facility into a manufacturing plant
for large VAX systems.
OEM Group Realigns
The OEM
Group has realigned to focus its resources on three major
market segments. It now consists of three product groups:
Microcomponents, headed by Dick Heaton; Technical OEM, under
Jack MacKeen; and Commercial OEM, managed by Jim Willis.
Microcomponents
includes
the microprocessor boards and the Design Win Program.
Technical OEM is responsible for system and software products
to OEM customers, for such tions as process control, seismic
analysis, medical and CAD/CAM. Commercial OEM provides all
systems and software products to OEMs that provide computer
solutions for such end users as libraries, lawyers,
accountants and small businesses of all kinds.
Ron Payne
has been appointed Corporate Purchasing Manager responsible
for the management of purchasing practices and vendor
relations worldwide. Ron joined Digital in 1977 as purchasing
manager for the Springfield Manufacturing facility. In 1978,
he was promoted to Springfield plant manager, a position he
held until his recent appointment. He now reports to Bill
Thompson, vice president, External Resources and Corporate
Materials.