Maston Beard
Maston Beard graduated in 1939 from Sydney University and was involved in radio transmitter design and radar research until joining the CSIRAC project in 1947. When the computer was moved to the University of Melbourne in 1955, he continued work on digital techniques and the application of computers in connection with navigational aids for civil aviation, the processing of data from radio telescopes, the control of Narrabri radio heliograph, and the control of the Siding Spring 3.9-meter telescope. He retired from CSIRO in 1978 while assistant chief at the Division of Computing Research. Following his retirement he served as a Senior Research Fellow in the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics. In 1980 he was awarded an Order of Australia Member (AM), in recognition of services to Radiophysics.
Trevor Pearcey
Trevor Pearcey graduated in 1940 from Imperial College, London with First Class honours in Physics and Mathematics. He came to Australia in late 1945 to work at the Radiophysics Division of CSIR. After working on radar systems, he began his career in computing by initiating the CSIRAC project in 1947. This project was followed by studies of programming languages in the United Kingdom and of computer networks when he returned to Australia in 1959. After a period as a consultant with the Control Data Corporation on the STAR 100 project, he retired from the Caulfield Institute of Technology (now Monash University) in the late 1980’s.
Trevor Pearcey died on Tuesday, 27 January 1998.