1967 was a major year in the development of Computing at Newcastle.
In preparation for the arrival of a new computer, an IBM 360 model 67 (360/67), the Laboratory moved into a new building. The new building was Claremont Tower. Download the Claremont Tower 1968 brochure (PDF: 2 MB).
The 360/67 was the first multiple-access computer outside North America. It displayed a new style of computing. Beside batch jobs running from decks of IBM punched cards, the 360/67 supported several remote access terminals. These terminals gave users an illusion of having the machine to themselves. This setup was an early precursor of today's PC environment.
1967 saw the introduction of the first undergraduate degree programme in Computing Science. Six students attended a short programming course at the end of the first year of their Mathematics degree. They then joined the Laboratory in the second year of the new BSc Honours Degree in Computing Science. They graduated in 1969 amongst the first graduates from any UK university.
Undergraduate programmes were followed in 1968 by the first of the Newcastle International Seminars on the Teaching of Computing Science. The series of seminars were sponsored at first by IBM, then Amdahl and then ICL. The ICL series ran for more than 30 years.
