Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In this month's episode on the Computer History of Australia, we feature the computer SILLIAC.
Based on the American computer ILLIAC, SILLIAC was built by STC (Standard Telephones and Cables) in Sydney for the University of Sydney and was Australia’s 3rd computer and the University's 2nd, after CSIR MK1.
In 1953, the head of physics at the University of Sydney, Harry Messel, wanted his own computer for the department. While CSIR MK1 was still at the University, it wasn’t available to him & his department. Together with researcher John Blatt, he convinced the University to build a copy of the University of Illinois’s ILLIAC which would be called the Sydney ILLIAC or SILLIAC.
SILLIAC was a parallel machine that was rather large, around 5m in length and 2 meters high. Initially, it had 2768 valves which was increased to 2911 valves in 1958. The valves used in SILLIAC were 5 times more reliable than the ones used in ILLIAC, having been produced by Bell Labs for undersea cables. This resulted in a failure rate of one failure every 11hrs. Initially it had Paper Tape for input but was upgraded to a “Punch Card” system. Many we interviewed had funny recollections of submitting work to SILLIAC. Featuring a Teleprinter for output, SILLIAC also featured 40 Williams Tubes carrying 40 bits at 1024 words for memory.
Through the help of a generous donor, SILLIAC became operational in June 1956 and was used by students, researchers, the Postmaster-General's Department, and the Snowy Hydro Authority to help build one of the world's largest engineering projects at the time. It had a 14-year lifespan, working reliably until its demise on May 7th, 1968.
The News Reel segment “Electronic Brain Masters of Maths” is the property of Cinesound Movietone Productions (CMP) is reproduced in this episode under license. “Electronic Brain Masters of Maths” is managed by the National Film and Sound Archives of Australia (NFSA).
State of Electronics is working hard to bring this series to you but we need your help. Acquiring and licensing images and filmed footage is both time consuming and expensive. We have set up a GoFundMe campaign to help with this process. You can greatly assist us by donating here: gofund.me/be05614f
ALERT: Right now, an anonymous donor has offered to match new donations for the next 2 months, up to a total of $2000.00 so your donation could be double its value to our cause!!
In this month's episode on the Computer History of Australia, we feature the computer SILLIAC.
Based on the American computer ILLIAC, SILLIAC was built by STC (Standard Telephones and Cables) in Sydney for the University of Sydney and was Australia’s 3rd computer and the University's 2nd, after CSIR MK1.
In 1953, the head of physics at the University of Sydney, Harry Messel, wanted his own computer for the department. While CSIR MK1 was still at the University, it wasn’t available to him & his department. Together with researcher John Blatt, he convinced the University to build a copy of the University of Illinois’s ILLIAC which would be called the Sydney ILLIAC or SILLIAC.
SILLIAC was a parallel machine that was rather large, around 5m in length and 2 meters high. Initially, it had 2768 valves which was increased to 2911 valves in 1958. The valves used in SILLIAC were 5 times more reliable than the ones used in ILLIAC, having been produced by Bell Labs for undersea cables. This resulted in a failure rate of one failure every 11hrs. Initially it had Paper Tape for input but was upgraded to a “Punch Card” system. Many we interviewed had funny recollections of submitting work to SILLIAC. Featuring a Teleprinter for output, SILLIAC also featured 40 Williams Tubes carrying 40 bits at 1024 words for memory.
Through the help of a generous donor, SILLIAC became operational in June 1956 and was used by students, researchers, the Postmaster-General's Department, and the Snowy Hydro Authority to help build one of the world's largest engineering projects at the time. It had a 14-year lifespan, working reliably until its demise on May 7th, 1968.
The News Reel segment “Electronic Brain Masters of Maths” is the property of Cinesound Movietone Productions (CMP) is reproduced in this episode under license. “Electronic Brain Masters of Maths” is managed by the National Film and Sound Archives of Australia (NFSA).
State of Electronics is working hard to bring this series to you but we need your help. Acquiring and licensing images and filmed footage is both time consuming and expensive. We have set up a GoFundMe campaign to help with this process. You can greatly assist us by donating here: gofund.me/be05614f
ALERT: Right now, an anonymous donor has offered to match new donations for the next 2 months, up to a total of $2000.00 so your donation could be double its value to our cause!!
