Mark e Dean – The Inventor & Computer Scientist

This article covers the great inventor and computer scientist Mark e Dean in detail. Check about his inspiring journey to become an ever known inventor with 30+ processor chip related patents.

This article covers the great inventor and computer scientist Mark e Dean in detail. Check about his inspiring journey to become an ever known inventor with 30+ processor chip related patents.

Today computers are accessible to most of the world population, especially in developing and developed countries.

But this was not the scenario when computers were making a remarkable transition from punch cards to screen-based.

At that time, a computer scientist and inventor worked hard to make computers powerful and accessible to all! Let’s know more about the remarkable journey of Mark E. Dean. 

Childhood

Born on March 2, 1957, in Jefferson City, located in the US state of Tennessee, Mark e Dean was a right child.

Initially, Jefferson city was a sparsely populated town with families of African-American descendant. While his grandmother was a receptionist, her grandfather was the Principal of a small school.

After serving in the Korean War, Mark e Dean’s father came to Jefferson City and gradually became a Dam Supervisor in his early forties.

Perhaps, Mark e Dean developed an interest in building various things from scratch because of the constant motivation of his father.

One day, he even built a tractor under the supervision of her father. He was also a gifted athlete. 

Education

Mark e Dean was a brilliant student from the beginning.

In 1979, he completed his BS in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville with the highest honours.

Next, he completed his MS in electrical engineering from Florida Atlantic University in 1982. His thesis project during his MS was “Design of a Low-Cost Graphics Terminal”.

In 1992, Mark e Dean attended Stanford University and enrolled himself to pursue PhD in electrical engineering under the supervision of Dr Mark Horowitz. 

Career 

Soon after graduation, Mark e Dean was short-listed for interviews at several big technology firms and got a job offer at Hewlett-Packard (HP).

However, he decided to join IBM in 1979 as an engineer. At that time, computers were in a state of transition from punch cards to screen-based.

Marke e Dean’s job was developing a word processor adapter for a data master terminal of IBM. It was this invention that makes personal computers popular among consumers.

He also invented the Standard Architecture System Bus to facilitate easy movement of data within a computer.

Mark e Dean and one of his colleagues invented a new system by which it became possible to expand the memory of personal computers and play a major role in changing the way people were then using their personal computers.

After completing his Master’s Degree, IBM promoted Mark e Dean, and he became the in-charge of the PC design.

Under her leadership, his team designed the first IBM PC. When in 1992, Mrak e Dean decided to do further studies, IBM funded his studies by paying him his salary.

 His breakthrough came when in 1999, he created the first gigahertz speed microprocessor with the help of his team.

It was a game-changer for personal computers and enabled computers to do one billion calculations in one second.

In 2000, he was made the Vice President of the Systems at IBM Research. From 2004-2008, he served as the Vice president of the IBM Almaden Research Center.

Next, he served IBM as the Chief Technology Officer of the IBM Middle East and Africa from 2011-2013.

Mark e Dean also envisioned a sleek portable computer activated by a voice command, which became a reality in 2010 when Apple launched the iPad. 

Awards

1996- First African American IBM fellow

1997-Black Engineer of the Year President’s Award

1997- National Inventor’s Hall of Fame

1997- Honored as US News & World Report’s Innovators of the 21st Century

2000-Honored as one of 50 Most Important African Americans in Technology 

2001-Elected to the National Academy of Engineering

2006- Outstanding Scientist Award by the National Institute of Science

2006- Distinguished Torch Award by the National Society of Black Engineers

2012- Distinguished Alumnus Award by the University of Tennessee

You won’t believe it, but Mark e Dean has been granted over 38 patents, and still many are pending!

He is considered a legend of Silicon Valley responsible for the colour IBM PC monitor you use almost daily.

It is now surprising that April 25 is officially celebrated as Mark Dean Day in the Knox County of his birthplace Tennessee.

Reference

https://blog.teachcomputing.org/mark-dean/

http://web.eecs.utk.edu/~markdean/

https://www.tbp.org/pubs/Features/Sp15Bell.pdf

https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/dean-mark-e-1957

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