---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash Sun Releases Details About New R&D Subsidiary SunFLASH Vol 27 #22 March 1991 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sun's Labs Adds Staff and Technology From Leading Consulting Firm MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. --March 27, 1991-- Sun Microsystems today made public further details about its new R&D subsidiary, Sun Microsystems Laboratories, Inc., formed to investigate and develop new hardware and software technologies. Sun has acquired the technology, patents and principals of Sutherland, Sproull and Associates, a noted consulting firm formerly located in Menlo Park, Calif., and Pittsburgh, Penn., that has performed work for companies such as DEC, Apple, Xerox and Citicorp. This gives Sun the expertise of the three well-known scientists who headed up this firm. Utilizing the advanced technology developed by Sun's labs will be Sun Microsystems and its two new software subsidiaries. Heading up Sun's labs is Wayne Rosing, vice president of research and a corporate executive officer of Sun Microsystems. He was most recently vice president of Sun's Desktop Systems & Graphics Group. He previously managed Sun's advanced development efforts, including creation of its SPARC(R) RISC microprocessor. Among the other breakthrough products he has spearheaded during his 25 years in the computer industry is Apple Computer's Lisa (precursor to the Macintosh). Sun's Labs Taps Industry Leaders Rosing is leading a staff of experienced personnel, including the principals of Sutherland, Sproull and Associates. Dr. Ivan Sutherland and Dr. Robert Sproull have been appointed vice presidents of Sun Microsystems and have also been named Sun fellows. Dr. William Sutherland has been selected as deputy director of Sun's labs. Dr. Robert Sproull is noted for his work in computer graphics, large system design and electronic publishing. He was a founder of Sutherland, Sproull and Associates and, before that, a professor of computer science at Carnegie-Mellon University. Dr. Sproull was also a research scientist at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), where he worked on the first laser printers, page description languages and the initial PC-type operating systems. He co-authored the first widely used textbook on computer graphics. Dr. Sproull was awarded a B.A. in physics from Harvard and a Ph.D. from Stanford in computer science. Dr. Ivan Sutherland is one of the world pioneers in the field of computer graphics. Besides being a founder of Sutherland, Sproull and Associates, he co-founded Evans & Sutherland, a manufacturer of high-performance computer graphics equipment, and was a founding partner of Advanced Technology Ventures, a venture capital firm. Dr. Sutherland has been a professor at Caltech (where he headed the computer science department), the University of Utah and Harvard. He is a member of the National Academy of Science and the National Academy of Engineering. He was also the recipient of the 1988 Turing Award from the Association of Computing Machinery. Dr. Sutherland received a B.S.E.E. from Carnegie Tech, an M.S.E.E. from Caltech and a Ph.D. from MIT. Dr. William Sutherland is known for his work in computer graphics and computer-aided design. He was a principal of Sutherland, Sproull and Associates and a partner in Advanced Technology Ventures. During six years at Xerox PARC, he managed some of the seminal research in desktop computer technology. Before that, he was vice president of the Computer Science Division of Bolt, Beranek and Newman, a computer technology firm. He was also associate group leader of the Digital Computers Group at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Dr. Sutherland has been a member of many committees and organizations associated with leading government agencies. He earned a B.S.E.E. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an M.S. and Ph.D. from MIT. Expert Research Staff to Focus on Next-Generation Technologies The R&D staff of Sun Microsystems Laboratories includes other experts in such fields as floating point technology, compiler vectorization, automatic parallelization, multimedia and operating systems. Bill Joy, Sun's chief technology officer and a UNIX(R) software luminary, will function as both a participant and resource to Sun's labs. The new organization will absorb existing research efforts within Sun and will become the company's primary research arm. Its main focus will be next-generation technologies that are three to five years away from productization, with emphasis on areas relevant to Sun and its subsidiaries. Emerging technologies identified and developed by Sun's labs will be turned into marketable products by Sun and its subsidiaries. However, the R&D organization will also explore areas not in the potential-product realm. "We will seek innovations that can impact profitability by decreasing expenses," said Rosing. Sun Microsystems Laboratories is located at Sun's main site in Mountain View, Calif. PR contact Zach Nelson (415) 336-0572 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For information send mail to info-sunflash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. Archives are on solar.nova.edu and paris.cs.miami.edu. All prices, availability, and other statements relating to Sun or third party products are valid in the U.S. only. Please contact your local Sales Representative for details of pricing and product availability in your region. Descriptions of, or references to products or publications within SunFlash does not imply an endorsement of that product or publication by Sun Microsystems. John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. (305) 776-7770.