Guide to the Thomas Gross papers

Finding aid prepared by Sydney Gulbronson Olson
Computer History Museum
1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.
Mountain View, CA, 94043
(650) 810-1010
research@computerhistory.org
December 2017


Title: Thomas Gross papers
Identifier/Call Number: X3145.2005
Contributing Institution: Computer History Museum
Language of Material: English
Physical Description: 5.42 Linear feet, 4 record cartons and 1 manuscript box
Date (inclusive): 1977-1993
Abstract: The Thomas Gross papers trace Gross's early career working on computer science projects at Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University. The collection, which ranges in date from 1977 to 1993, consists of technical reports, memos, and notes. About half of the collection pertains to Gross's work on the Stanford MIPS (Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages) project. The second half of the collection consists of documentation related to Carnegie Mellon University, including technical reports published by the computer science department as well as notes and reports related to the Warp and iWarp projects.

Processing Information

Collection surveyed by Sydney Gulbronson Olson, 2017.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

The Computer History Museum (CHM) can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claims of the copyright holder. Requests for copying and permission to publish, quote, or reproduce any portion of the Computer History Museum's collection must be obtained jointly from both the copyright holder (if applicable) and the Computer History Museum.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of Item], [Date], Thomas Gross papers, Lot X3145.2005, Box [#], Computer History Museum.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Thomas Gross.

Biographical/Historical Note

Thomas Gross is a computer science professor and researcher who has worked on the software, architecture, and applications of a variety of experimental computer systems.
Gross studied at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University in Bonn and the Technical University Munich, where he graduated with a degree in computer science. He then earned a PhD in electrical engineering from Stanford University, where he was part of the team that developed the original Stanford MIPS processor. After completing a year as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford, Gross joined the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. There, he was part of the Warp, iWarp, and Fx projects.
Gross became an Associate Professor at ETH Zurich in 1994 and became a full Professor of Computer Science in 1998. His current research focuses on the design and implementation of software systems, as well as the design and construction of network-aware applications.

Scope and Content of the Collection

The Thomas Gross papers, ranging in date from 1977 to 1993, trace Gross's early career working on computer science projects at Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University. The collection consists of technical reports, memos, and notes pertaining to his work on the Stanford MIPS (Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages) project and the Warp and iWarp projects at Carnegie Mellon.
About half of the collection is made up of technical reports related to the Stanford MIPS processor project. The materials in this portion of the collection were published between 1981 and 1989 by companies such as Texas Instruments, McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company, General Electric, Sperry Corporation, and RCA, and pertain primarily to GaAs and CMOS microprocessors.
The second half of the collection consists of documentation related to Carnegie Mellon University, ranging in date from 1977 to 1993. Most of the materials pertain to the iWarp project, which was an experimental parallel system that was designed and built jointly by Carnegie Mellon University and Intel Corporation. There is also material related to the Warp project, also conducted by Carnegie Mellon, as well as a small amount of technical reports published by the Carnegie Mellon Computer Science Department.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

iWarp (Computer)
Microprocessors
MIPS (Computer architecture)