Atlas Computer Laboratory
The Atlas Computer Laboratory was for many years a major facility supporting computationally intensive science and engineering research in the UK.
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 Location within Oxfordshire
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| Established | 1961 |
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| Dissolved | 1975 |
| Location | Harwell, Oxfordshire |
| Coordinates | 51°34′31″N 1°18′54″W / 51.5752°N 1.3150°WCoordinates: 51°34′31″N 1°18′54″W / 51.5752°N 1.3150°W |
| Director | Jack Howlett |
| Website | http://www.chilton-computing.org.uk/ |
The Atlas Computer Laboratory on the Harwell, Oxfordshire campus shared by the Harwell Laboratory was one of the major computer laboratories in the world, which operated between 1961 and 1975 to provide a service to British scientists at a time when powerful computers were not usually available. The main user population was the UK Universities and some government agencies.
Now called the Atlas centre, it is home to European Space Agency's (ESA) Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC), and the Space Applications and Telecommunications (ESA ESCAT) and the Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) Innovations Technology Access Centre (I-TAC).
From 1964 to 1971 the laboratory housed the largest of the three examples of the Ferranti Atlas 1 computer that was purchased for £2.5 million, and after which the laboratory was named. For a time, it was the fastest and most innovative of the computers available worldwide.
Throughout its life it was headed by Jack Howlett. Early staff or visitors included A. O. L. Atkin (1964–1970), I. J. Good (1964–1967), and Donald Michie who had worked together at Bletchley Park during the Second World War.
High quality text and graphics output on both paper and film was provided by a Stromberg-Carlson SC4020 microfilm recorder that provided a unique service for many years, especially to people interested in doing computer animation. Associated with the SC4020 was a PDP15 satellite computer that provided previewing facilities for the SC4020 and a range of interactive graphics facilities for users.
From 1971 an ICL 1906A was installed with twice the computing power of the Atlas 1. About the same time, work started on replacing the ageing SC4020 with a modern III FR80 microfilm recorder which expanded the range of output media to include microfiche and was able to generate colour as well as black and white output.
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