This conference was held to celebrate the successful operating on June 21st 1948 of the world's first stored-program computer. The so-called "Baby" proved the effectiveness of the digital random-access storage system designed at the University of Manchester by Professor F.C. Williams and Tom Kilburn, and showed that it could be used to hold a computer program as 'software' within the memory of the machine.
There was a prelude to the conference on Wednesday June 17th, the Launch Event for the Celebrations.
Day 1 of the conference proper, Thursday June 18th, reviewed the achievement of the Baby and the Mark 1, and the continuing pioneering computer developments that have followed in the intervening years at the University of Manchester.
Day 2, Friday June 19th, looked at state-of-the-art research today at Manchester and elsewhere, and looked towards the future.
| 9.00 | - | 9.40 | Opening Address | Gordon Bell |
| 9.40 | - | 10.10 | The First stored program computer | Tom Kilburn |
| Coffee Break | ||||
| 10.40 | - | 12.00 | Extensions leading to the Manchester Mark 1 | Geoff Tootill
Laurie Allard Alec Robinson Tommy Thomas Dai Edwards |
| 12.00 | - | 12.20 | Making the Ferranti Mark 1 | Keith Lonsdale |
| 12.20 | - | 12.40 | Using the Mark 1 | Fred Bushby |
| Lunch, Poster Session and Demonstrations | ||||
| Progression from the Mark 1 : | ||||
| 2.00 | - | 2.20 | Mercury | Charlie Portman |
| 2.20 | - | 2.40 | MetroVic | Dick Grimsdale |
| 2.40 | - | 3.00 | Atlas | Frank Sumner |
| Break | ||||
| Software : | ||||
| 3.10 | - | 3.30 | High Level Languages Mark 1 to Atlas | Tony Brooker |
| 3.30 | - | 3.50 | Operating Systems Mark 1 to Atlas | David Howarth |
| 3.50 | - | 4.10 | Software Influences on the Design of MU5 | Jeff Rohl |
| Tea Break | ||||
| 4.40 | - | 5.00 | MU5 | Roland Ibbett |
| 5.00 | - | 5.20 | Dataflow, Flagship and beyond | Ian Watson |
| 5.20 | - | 5.40 | Continuing the Manchester Connection | Brian Procter |
| Light Refreshments | ||||
| 6.20 | - | 6.50 | SSEM Rebuild | Chris Burton |
This day looked at the state-of-the-art research in Manchester and elsewhere. There was a variety of poster displays and demonstrations illustrating the current research in the Department of Computer Science.
Cheap at any Price:
Professor Roger Needham, The University of Cambridge
Computing and Communication: What's the Difference?:
Professor Robin Milner, The University of Cambridge