IEEE Milestone at CERN September 26th, 2005


 
The IEEE has conferred to CERN in Geneva, Switzerland the honour of an IEEE Milestone in the history of electricity for the invention in 1968 of the multi-wire proportional particle detector. This invention by George Charpak and collaborators at CERN has been the turning point for the progressive transformation of physics experiments into fully electronic operation. This change has been accompanied by the introduction of a wide range of electronic signal processors in modular units, involving development efforts in laboratories and innovative industries worlwide. The earliest standards in data acquisition bus protocols, such as CAMAC contributed to the success.

Today this culminates in experiments with millions of electronics chips, that use sophisticated microelectronics, fiber optics networking and computing. The industrial partners continuously play a critical role in the transfer of these new technologies towards other industrial applications.

The IEEE established the Electrical Engineering Milestones program in 1983 to honor significant achievements in the history of electrical and electronics engineering. To be designated an achievement must be at least 25 years old, must have involved a unique solution to an engineering problem, and must have had at least regional impact. Currently there are more than 50 IEEE Milestones around the world.

 

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