The Charles Babbage Premium was an annual award "for an outstanding paper on the design or use of electronic computers".[1][2]

The award was established in 1959.[1] It was initiated by the British Institution of Radio Engineers, which became the Institution of Electronic and Radio Engineers.[3] In 1988, it merged with the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), which later became the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) in 2006. Winners have been announced in journals such as Nuclear Power,[4] Electronic Engineering,[5] British Communications and Electronics,[6] and the Software Engineering Journal.[7]

Charles Babbage, after whom the award is named

The Premium was named after the mathematician Charles Babbage FRS (1791–1871), inventor of the Analytical Engine, a design for an early mechanical computer.

The IET now makes separate Premium Awards for papers in each of its journals,[8] named after the journal itself. This includes the IET Software Premium Award, the nearest equivalent to the Charles Babbage Premium Award.

References

  1. ^ a b "Charles Babbage Premium". Journal of the British Institution of Radio Engineers. 19 (1). British Institution of Radio Engineers: 132, 134. 1959. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  2. ^ Webster, Valerie J., ed. (1999). "Charles Babbage Premium". Awards, Honors & Prizes. Vol. 2: International and Foreign. Gale Research. pp. 544, 547. ISBN 978-0787615024.
  3. ^ Clifford, Graham D.; Sharp, Frank W. (1989). "Charles Babbage Premium". A Twentieth Century Professional Institution: The Story of I.E.R.E., 1925–1988. History of Technology series. Peter Peregrinus. p. 168. ISBN 978-0787615024.
  4. ^ "Charles Babbage Premium". Nuclear Power. 4. Rowse Muir Publications: 120. 1959.
  5. ^ "Charles Babbage Premium". Electronic Engineering. 31. Morgan-Grampian: 372. 1959.
  6. ^ "Charles Babbage Premium". British Communications and Electronics. 9 (1). Heywood & Company: 380. 1962.
  7. ^ "Charles Babbage Premium Award winners". Software Engineering Journal. 10 (1): 2. 1995. doi:10.1049/sej.1995.0001.
  8. ^ "IET Premium Awards". The Institution of Engineering and Technology. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
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