Aberdeen Proving Ground dedicates supercomputers to early programmers

Jason Fontelieu, The Aegis, Bel Air, Md.
·2 min read

Oct. 5—The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory (DEVCOM ARL) at Aberdeen Proving Ground dedicated five new supercomputers to the programmers of the world's general purpose scientific computer at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 28.

The six women programmers, called "computers" at the time, were nicknamed the "ENIAC Six" for their involvement in programming the first all-electronic digital computer, known as the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), in 1945.

Those programmers were: Betty Jean "Jean" (Jennings) Bartik, Frances Elizabeth "Betty" (Snyder) Holberton, Kathleen "Kay" (McNulty) Mauchly Antonelli, Marlyn (Wescoff) Meltzer, Frances "Fran" (Bilas) Spence and Ruth (Lichterman) Teitelbaum.

THe ENIAC was used to calculate artillery firing tables for the U.S. Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory. The women were honored posthumously for their groundbreaking contributions they made to the development of ENIAC and the creation of the field of computer programming, with several family members in attendance at the ceremony.

A sixth computer, dedicated to Spence, will be installed next year. The computers will be used by the DEVCOM ARL DoD Supercomputing Resource Center.

Cindy Bedell, director of the DEVCOM ARL, welcomed the crowd in attendance at Aberdeen Proving Ground's Mallette Training Center.

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"There is no limit to what we can learn, except what our imagination tells us, and how we program those machines," Bedell said, "So these ladies were the first programmers."

Jerry Ballard, director of the High Performance Computing Modernization Program, also acknowledged the significance of the ENIAC Six's accomplishments.

"These super computers will continue to support these women's legacy of computational resources that are vital for the protection of our nation," Ballard said.

Another speaker was Kathy Kleiman, founder of the ENIAC Programmers Project, which involved her interviewing some of the ENIAC Six while they were still alive to help tell their contributions to history, culminating in a short documentary film, "The Computers," which was presented during the day.

Kleiman also wrote a book on the programmers, called "Proving Ground: The Untold Story of the Six Women Who Programmed the World's First Modern Computer."

"These women really stepped up and changed the world," said State Sen. Mary-Dulany James, who also spoke at the event.