The Development History Of Computer Technology In Harbin Institute Of Military Engineering And Its Influence(1956-1978)

As the top military technology academy which was established to cultivate high-quality talents after the founding of the PRC,Harbin Institute of Military Engineering is one of the first units to develop military computers in China.Because of the Cross-Strait tensions,the urgent demand for the modernization of national defense and the intrinsic demand for following the development trend of computer technology in the world,the computers built in the period of Harbin Institute of Military Engineering(1953-1966),Harbin Institute of Technology(1966-1970)and Changsha Institute of Technology(1970-1978)have been throughout the whole course from vacuum tubes to integrated circuits,occupying an important position in China's computer development history and representing the development process of China's military computers.According to the principle of integrating history and logic,based on archive materials in National University of Defense Technology and interviews with Liu Kejun and Kangpeng,this thesis uses critical oral history method,mainly elaborating that the resultant action of demand pull and technology push is the objective basis that promotes the computer development in Harbin Institute of Military Engineering,and the form of achievement transformation is to serve national defense construction and national economic development.Especially in 1966,under the principle of ‘Concentrating cutting-edge specialties,decentralizing routine specialties',Harbin Institute of Military Engineering established the first Department of Computer Science in China.In this carrier of training high-quality computer professionals,many core technology backbones and management personnel in ‘Yinhe' and ‘Tianhe' engineering projects grew up through the combination of theories and practice which left behind giant footprints in China's computer education history.However,weak technology bases used to lead to the contradiction that special machines could not match the submarine environment and special politic environment used to cause obstructions in the normal development efforts which need reflections.Through this historical outline of the 20 years that the computer technology in Harbin Institute of Military Engineering grew out of nothing and changed from weak to strong,this thesis concludes the continuity of the development process from HarbinInstitute of Military Engineering period to National University of Defense Technology period,and then,illustrates that it is necessary to follow national great strategic demand,to cultivate and inherit engineering spirits in intellect training and to enhance independent innovation strength,transform late-starting advantage to first-mover advantage,in order to ensure the persistence development of computer technology in National University of Defense Technology.