Harry Garland

Harry Garland
Harry Thomas Garland
Born	1947 Detroit, Michigan
Education	B.A. Kalamazoo College Ph.D. Stanford University
Occupation	Scientist, Engineer, Author, Entrepreneur
Known for	Co-founder Cromemco, Inc.
Call-sign	WA8FJW WA6VYT

Harry T. Garland (born 1947) is a scientist, engineer, author, and entrepreneur who co-founded Cromemco Inc., one of the earliest and most successful microcomputer companies. He received the B.A. degree in mathematics from Kalamazoo College, and the Ph.D. degree in biophysics from Stanford University. Dr. Garland has been recognized as one of the most important innovators in the history of the development of personal computers in Silicon Valley.

Garland began his graduate work at Stanford University in 1968. Garland’s research at Stanford focused on the function of the human brain in controlling voluntary movement. He developed techniques in electromyography for monitoring muscle activity during voluntary movement and worked to delineate the role of the brain and the role of local reflexes in the control of muscles. This led to a deeper understanding of brain function during voluntary movement, and insight into the mode of action of L-DOPA in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

Garland received the doctoral degree from Stanford in 1972. He was invited by John G. Linvill to join the research staff of the Stanford Electronics Laboratories where he worked on the Optacon project and developed the concept for the next generation Optacon reading aid for the blind. In 1974, he was appointed Assistant Chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University; he taught graduate courses in electrical engineering and published a textbook in the new field of microprocessor system design.

While at Stanford University, Dr. Garland also worked to bring electronics technology to a wider audience. Over a period of six years, in collaboration with Stanford colleague Roger Melen, he wrote a series of articles for Popular Electronics magazine describing original designs that could be built by the electronic hobbyist. During this period, Garland and Melen also published two books: Understanding IC Operational Amplifiers and Understanding CMOS Integrated Circuits.

The MITS Altair computer, which launched the microcomputer industry, was introduced in January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics magazine. That same issue carried an article by Garland and Melen on solid-state image sensors. The following month they, together with their Stanford colleague Terry Walker, published the design of the world's first completely digital solid-state camera in Popular Electronics, and began work on developing an interface to connect the camera (which they called called the “Cyclops”), to the MITS Altair computer. MITS introduced the Cyclops Camera as a peripheral for the Altair Computer in January 1976.