Dr. Erhard Eppler and Prof. A. Ramachandran during the inauguration of the Computer Centre, 1973

< Back

Institute Events , Visiting VIPs , Administrators

Dr. Eppler (Minister for Economic Co-operation for the Federal Republic of Germany) was the chief guest at the inauguration of the Computer Centre at IIT Madras. Prof. Ramachandran, the former Director of IIT Madras, was working as Secretary to the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

In the image, the tape drives of the IBM 370 computer system are seen. The IBM 370 was the newly installed computer at IIT Madras. Campaschimes, the coffee table book about IIT Madras, notes that the tape drives were installed in a hall beyond the card readers (where decks of cards containing programs were submitted for further processing). “The code was compiled and processed in the hall beyond the card reader. The activity in this sanctum sanctorum of the computer centre could be viewed through a large glass partition. There was a space age scene there with tape drives spinning and consoles winking and serious staff members attending to them.”

Collection:

Gourishankar Collection

Album Name:

1. Special Convocation for Dr. Erhard Eppler 2. Computer Centre Inauguration

Photograph ID:

001/0266/IMG_0122

Album ID:

0266

Date:

17 November 1973

Photographer:

C. Gourishankar (1936-2002). A geologist by qualification, Gourishankar started his career as a photographer after working for many years with the Geological Survey of India. In everything that he did, Gourishankar strove to achieve flawlessness and impeccable quality. Thus his photography too was characterised by this drive for perfection. Every photograph that Gourishankar took was meticulously planned and shot and printed with diligence and patience. Gourishankar carried out most of the official photography at IIT Madras in the 1960s.

Event:

Inauguration of Computer Centre

Place:

Computer Centre at Building Sciences Block