Description

Jay Wright Forrester, left, receives Eta Kappa Nu Recognition Award from T. W. Williams. Technology Review, April 1949, p. 338.

Original Caption: "Honored for Electrical Engineering - Jay Wright Forrester, 6-45, Associate Director of the Servomechanisms Laboratory, received one of the two honorable mentions in the selection of the outstanding young electrical engineer of 1948 by the Jury Award of Eta Kappa Nu, national honor society for electrical engineers. He is shown here receiving the award certificate with T. W. Williams, President of Eta Kappa Nu. The Eta Kappa Nu Recognition Award is made annually "for meritorious service in the interest of their fellow men" on the part of young electrical engineers, not only for their technical ability and accomplishments already achieved, but also for their interest in cultural and civic advancement and their promise for future development. To qualify for the award, candidates must not be older than 35 years, nor be out of college more than 10 years by May 1 of the year for which cited. Following graduation from the University of Nebraska in 1939, Mr. Forrester came to the Department of Electrical Engineering at M.I.T. as a graduate student and research assistant on the development of high-voltage electrostatic generators in the few-megavolt range and the application of these generators to the treatment of cancer. He also participated in the instruction of undergraduates. In 1940, he was assigned to a small group of research workers to develop servomechanisms for gunfire control, and he helped develop an hydraulic type subsequently used extensively on the antiaircraft weapons of both the United States Army and the Navy. Mr. Forrester's major technical contributions have come in the past three years while working in the field of digital computers."