Computer Science Superheroes

Vint Cerf

Born:June 23, 1943, New Haven, CT

Known as one of the "Father's of the Internet", Cerf co-designed the TCP/IP protocols and the architecture of the internet. Cerf received his Bachelor's degree in mathematics from Stanford, achieved his PhD and M.S. degree at the University of California, and received rewards for his contributions to computer science from the president(Bill Clinton) and other historical figures. Cerf is still acknowledged and praised for creating the internet and is involved in its current development.

References: Wikipedia
Internet Hall of Fame
The Franklin Institute

Marc Hannah

Born:October 19, 1956, Chicago, IL

Hannah first attended Illinois Institute of Technology with a scholarship he received from AT&T's Bell Laboratories. In 1977, he recevied his B.S. degree in electrical engineering, and the following year he achieved his M.S. degree and PhD at Stanford. In 1982, founded Silicon Graphics along with the assistance of his colleagues. His goal was to develop high-performance graphic workstations and serve for various industries. He contributed to the special effects we see in movies, played a key role in the development of computer-generated images, and used his knowledge of special effects and incorporated them in Jurassic Park(1993).

References: The History Makers
Insitute of Design
Command Line Heroes

Karlheinz Brandenburg

Born: June 20, 1954, Erlangen, Germany

Bradenburg received a degree from Erlangen Univerisity in 1980 and a degree in mathematics two years later. In 1989, he achieved his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Friedrich Alexander Univerisity. He invented the MP3 player in 1989. He is acknowledged for his work in audio coding wave field synthesis, psychoacoustics, etc. Due to his creation of the MP3 player, we are now able to listen music whenever and wherever we want. His significance and work in computer science is admired by others and he has received rewards for doing so such as the IEEE Engineering Excellence award and being inducted into the Consumer Electronic Hall of Fame in 2007.

References: Internet Hall of Fame
NPR.org
EPO.org

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