"I just need to figure out how things work."

In 1988, the Association for Computing Machinery awarded Ivan Sutherland the Turing Award for his work on creating the Sketchpad, something that altered computer graphics forever. Ivan Sutherland was born in Hartings, Nebraska on May 16, 1938. Sutherland's parents had great influence on the future and career of Ivan. His father was a Civil Engineer and mother was a teacher. From his father, he gained interest in figuring out how things worked. He knew early that he wanted to enter engineering and learn about computers. This is particularly interesting since computers were just being developed as Sutherland entered college. His mother influenced him to become a professor.

Sutherland graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in 1959. He further pursued his education by later earning his master's degree from California Institute of Technology in 1960 and his Ph. D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1963. After a short stint working at the National Security Agency and the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Center (ARPA), Sutherland decided to join the faculty at Harvard University in 1966. He later taught at the University of Utah and the California Institute of Technology.

In 1963, Sutherland developed a computer program for his Ph.D. thesis, called Sketchpad, that revolutionized graphic imaging. The Sketchpad made it possible to create graphic images directly on a display screen by using a hand-held object such as a lightpen. The Sketchpad allowed for graphics to be created directly from the user's hand, rather than through codes and formulas. The patterns of the lightpen were stored in the memory of the computer, then manipulated later by the user. Ultimately, Sutherland's invention opened up the new area of computer-aided design (CAD). By creating the first Graphical User Interface (GUI), Sutherland and his Sketchpad transformed the computer industry. Computers were no longer confined to data processing.

Sutherland's invention allowed for highly precise drawings to be created, manipulated, duplicated, and stored. The software provided a scale of 2000:1, offering a large drawing space. Sketchpad pioneered the concepts of graphical computing, including memory structures to store objects, rubber-banding of lines, the ability to zoom in and out on the display, and the ability to make perfect lines, corners, and joints.

Ivan Sutherland at the console of the TX-2 - Sketchpad Project, MIT, 1963

Over the years, Ivan Sutherland has recieved many awards for his contributions toward computer science.

Computerworld Smithsonian Award, 1996

AM Turing Award, Association for Computing Machinery, 1988

First Zworykin Award, National Academy of Engineering, 1972

Member, National Academy of Sciences, since 1978

Member, National Academy of Engineering, since 1973

Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)

Fellow, Association for Computing Machinery

Quotes

"A display connected to a digital computer gives us a chance to gain familiarty with concepts not realizable in the physical world. It is a looking glass into a mathematical wonderland."

"It's very satisfying to take a problem we thought difficult and find a simple solution. The best solutions are always simple."

References:

http://web.mit.edu/invent/www/inventorsR-Z/sutherland.html

http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/cs6751_97_fall/projects/abowd_team/ivan/ivan.html