Forester Jay Wright

Jay Wright Forrester

Jay Wright Forrester is an engineer, the developer of the theory of a systems dynamics.

Was born on July 14, 1918 in the city of Anselmo, Nebraska (USA)

Biography, career

Graduated from the university of the State of Nebraska in Lincoln and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.

Forrester began to research since July, 1939 in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working at first as the assistant on researches in Laboratory of high tension. In the middle of 1940-41 academic years Jay Forrester began to work in new Servomekhanichesky laboratory Gortsona of Brown which was a part of electroengineering faculty MIT. Its work on a competition of an academic status in the field of electroengineering during war was suspended to please to researches for war industry and finished only in 1945.

The forester the first used computers in management. He developed technology of computer simulation of real processes. For example, the flow of materials at factory was represented as a series of the interconnected mathematical equations which could be processed on the computer.

He developed one of the first multipurpose computers - Whirlwind I ("Whirlwind-1") created by request of US Navy. In this machine were for the first time used the cathode ray tube for data output on the screen and the typewriter with a punched tape, the predecessor of future input/output device. It was the first computer working in real time. The forester is the author of the IBM SAGE project who is a direct follower of Whirlwind I, and some other, influenced development of the computer equipment.

Interesting Facts

In 1968 it is awarded with the prize "Inventor of Year" and the medal Valdemara Poulsena Datskoy of academy of technical science.

Cm. also

IBM SAGE