Seymour Cray

person The founder of Cray Research and designer of

several of their supercomputers.

Cray has been a charismatic yet somewhat reclusive figure. He

began Cray Research in Minnesota in 1972. In 1988, Cray moved

his Cray-3 project to Colorado Springs. The next year, Cray

Research spun it off to create Cray Computer. In 1989, Cray

left Cray Research and started Cray Computer Corporation in Colorado

Springs.

His quest to build a faster computer using new-generation

materials failed in 1995, and his bankruptcy cost half a

billion dollars and more than 400 jobs. The company was

unable to raise $20 million needed to finish the Cray-4 and

filed for bankruptcy in March 1995.

In the summer of 1996, Cray started a Colorado Springs-based

company called SRC Computers, Inc. "We think we'll build

computers, but who knows what kind or how," Cray said at the

time. "We'll talk it over and see if we can come up with a

plan."

On 1996-09-22, aged 70, Cray broke his neck in a car

accident. Surgery for massive head injuries and swelling of

the brain leaving him in a critical and unstable condition.

(1997-03-02)