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Complex chips and crash-proof computer pioneer Edward McCluskey dies

Algo prof passes on aged 86

Edward McCluskey, professor at Stanford University and pioneer of complex chips and crash-proof computers, has passed away at the age of 86.

McCluskey died on 13 February, according to last week's Stanford News.

He developed the first algorithm for designing combinational circuits as a doctoral student at MIT – something he first developed while working as an intern at Bell Labs.

After earning his doctorate in 1956 McCluskey worked as a staff researcher at Bell until 1959, before moving to Princeton as associate professor of electrical engineering and establishing the Princeton University Computer Centre.

In 1966, he joined the faculty at Stanford Engineering where McCluskey developed the modern theory of transients in logic networks and formulated the concept of operating modes of sequential circuits.

According to Stanford News, McCluskey founded the Centre for Reliable Computing (CRC) at Stanford University, "which made major contributions to the testing of computer chips" and helped design fault-tolerant systems to avoid computer crashes.

The discovery will continue to spur research for self-driving cars, it said.

McCluskey is survived by five of his six children, 11 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. ®

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