George Cogar
George Cogar | |
|---|---|
| Born | George R. Cogar 1932 Gassaway, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Disappeared | September 2, 1983 (aged 50–51) British Columbia, Canada |
| Status | Missing for 41 years, 10 months and 12 days |
| Spouse | Ann Cogar |
George R. Cogar (1932 – disappeared September 2, 1983) was an American computer scientist and engineer. He disappeared in 1983 while on a private plane flying over Canada; no wreckage has ever been found.
Professional career
Cogar was the head of the UNIVAC 1004 electronic design team code named the "bumblebee project", and later the "barn project", and co-founder of Mohawk Data Sciences Corporation, a Herkimer, New York-based multimillion-dollar business. His most successful invention was the Data Recorder magnetic tape encoder, which was introduced in 1965 and eliminated the need for keypunches and punched cards by direct encoding on tape.[1][2][3][4] He also founded the Cogar Corporation, where he built an intelligent terminal—an early forerunner of the modern personal computer—which he called the Cogar System 4[5] or Cogar 4. The Cogar 4 became the Singer 1500 after Singer Business Machines acquired Cogar Corporation. In 1976, International Computers Limited (ICL) acquired Singer Business Machines, changing the name of the computer to the ICL 1500.
Disappearance
Cogar was last seen Friday, September 2, 1983, when a private plane, a Britten-Norman Islander, went down somewhere in British Columbia, Canada.[6][7]
Philanthropy
Cogar and his wife Ann established the Cogar Foundation for the express purpose of awarding grants and scholarships to students of Herkimer County.[8] The Cogar Gallery at Herkimer County Community College is named for them.[9]
Patents
- US 3166715 Asynchronous self controlled shift register
- US 3261003 Tape error indication apparatus
- US 3510680 Asynchronous shift register with data control gating therefor
- US 3550103 Reverse write and forward verify read of a variable length data
- US 3794980 Apparatus and method for controlling sequential execution of instructions and nesting of subroutines in a data processor
- US 4365742 Heating system
- US 4609613 Permanent reproductions and formation method therefor
- US 3410312 Fluid shift flip-flop
- US 3188621 Display panels with selectable indicators
- US 3239809 Skew correction buffer
- US 3426415 Printed circuit assembly
- US 3283255 Phase modulation system for reading particular information
- US 3282205 Print control means for high speed printer with traveling print bar
- US 3310660 Asynchronous counting devices
- US 3483523 Data recording and verifying machine
- US 3807614 Backspace mechanism for a tape handling apparatus for a data recorder
- US 3193697 Synchronized single pulser
- US 3585619 Magnetic tape readout system with means to generate artificial signals
- US 3578257 Tape handling apparatus for data recorder
- US 3555306 Keyboard sprocket circuit
- US 3624838 Address counter stage circuitry
See also
References
- ^ Stacy V. Jones, "Data-Recorder Takes Short Cuts; Punch-Card Use Eliminated By Direct Coding on Tape Wide Variety of Ideas Covered By Patents Issued During Week", New York Times, December 13, 1969
- ^ Roger R. Flynn, ed. (2002). "Tabulating Machines". Computer sciences. Vol. 1: Foundations: Ideas and People. New York: Macmillan Reference USA. p. 188. ISBN 0028655672. OCLC 671558424.
- ^ US 3483523, George Cogar, "Data recording and verifying machine"
- ^ "Mohawk Data Sciences Corporation (MDS) | Selling the Computer Revolution". Computer History Museum. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
- ^ Cogar System 4: System Summary (PDF).
- ^ "1683DMBC - George R. Cogar". www.doenetwork.org. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
- ^ Ranter, Harro; Lujan, Fabian I. (2010). "ASN Aircraft accident Britten-Norman BN-2A-21 Islander C-GIPF Smithers, BC". Retrieved 2011-06-27.
- ^ "Cogar Foundation, Inc". Foundation Directory Online. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
- ^ "Cogar Gallery". Herkimer County Community College. Retrieved 2022-01-17.