Applied Magnetics Corporation

Last updated

Applied Magnetics Corporation (AMC), in operation from 1957 to 2000, was a manufacturer of magnetic heads used in recording information on magnetic tape and computer disks. [1]

Contents

Founder

The company was founded by Harold Frank in 1957 in Goleta, California. [2]

Frank served in WWII as a radio operator and Morse code specialist. After the war, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Washington State University in 1948. [3] After graduation, Frank began work with a seismic crew at Conoco in Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Texas where he helped develop a magnetic tape recording process to assist with geophysical exploration and the identification of oil deposits. [4] [5]

Based on his interest in and experience with magnetic recording, he founded Applied Magnetics Corporation in 1957 in a spare bedroom of his house in Goleta. [6]

Company history

Originally, AMC was a one-man company with Frank serving as administrator, engineer, salesman, and shop worker. [7]

AMC's first government contract came when the company had only seven employees; good performance led to the award of a US Air Force contract in 1961 to produce specialized magnetic recording systems. [8]

By 1968, the company had 850 employees and 17 divisions. [9]

AMC recording heads were used on NASA crewed and uncrewed space flights. AMC magnetic heads were aboard Mariner spacecraft for photographic fly-bys of Mars; photos were recorded digitally and in analog for reproduction and transmission to Earth for electronic processing at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. [10] On Mercury and Gemini missions, and continuing through Apollo 11, AMC's were the only magnetic recording heads to qualify against crucial NASA standards for operation in the unique space environment. The equipment recorded flight temperatures, pressures, vibration, acceleration, communications, and numerous other critical functions, all of which were transmitted back to Mission Control in Houston, TX. In 1969, NASA presented an award to AMC's research director in recognition of the company's contribution to the advancement of magnetic recording technology. [11]

AMC's stock began trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange in July 1971, by which time the company had manufacturing facilities in the US, Korea, Belgium, Portugal, Barbados, and Puerto Rico, with its primary product line being magnetic heads to capture information on magnetic tape and disks. [12] AMC eventually expanded to 21 divisions in 12 countries and employed 14,000 people. [5] AMC was a major employer in Santa Barbara County, California, second only to the University of California, Santa Barbara. [6]

Via acquisitions, AMC branched out into other computer components and equipment, such as magnetic core memory and printed circuit boards. In 1971, the company began marketing disk storage for small computers to provide a low-cost fast-access extension to computer memory. [13]

Following a significant downturn in the computer drive industry in the late 1990s, [14] AMC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2000. [15] Until then, AMC was the oldest independent US-based supplier of disk read-and-write heads. [16]

Through the Chapter 11 process, AMC was restructured and repositioned into the field of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), exiting the process in 2001 as Innovative Micro Technology (IMT). [17] Dr. John S. Foster, AMC's former COO, became IMT's first CEO. [18] [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floppy disk</span> Removable disk storage medium

A floppy disk or floppy diskette is a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a fabric that removes dust particles from the spinning disk. The three most popular floppy disks are the 8-inch, 5¼-inch, and 3½-inch floppy disks. Floppy disks store digital data which can be read and written when the disk is inserted into a floppy disk drive (FDD) connected to or inside a computer or other device.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hard disk drive</span> Electro-mechanical data storage device

A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnetic material. The platters are paired with magnetic heads, usually arranged on a moving actuator arm, which read and write data to the platter surfaces. Data is accessed in a random-access manner, meaning that individual blocks of data can be stored and retrieved in any order. HDDs are a type of non-volatile storage, retaining stored data when powered off. Modern HDDs are typically in the form of a small rectangular box.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Data storage</span> Recording of information in a storage medium

Data storage is the recording (storing) of information (data) in a storage medium. Handwriting, phonographic recording, magnetic tape, and optical discs are all examples of storage media. Biological molecules such as RNA and DNA are considered by some as data storage. Recording may be accomplished with virtually any form of energy. Electronic data storage requires electrical power to store and retrieve data.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disk read-and-write head</span> Small, movable part of a disk drive

A disk read-and-write head is the small part of a disk drive which moves above the disk platter and transforms the platter's magnetic field into electric current or, vice versa, transforms electric current into magnetic field. The heads have gone through a number of changes over the years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goleta, California</span> City in California, United States

Goleta is a city in southern Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It was incorporated as a city in 2002, after a long period as the largest unincorporated populated area in the county. As of the 2000 census, the census-designated place (CDP) had a total population of 55,204. A significant portion of the census territory of 2000 did not include the newer portions of the city. The population of Goleta was 32,690 at the 2020 census. It is known for being close to the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drum memory</span> Magnetic data storage device

Drum memory was a magnetic data storage device invented by Gustav Tauschek in 1932 in Austria. Drums were widely used in the 1950s and into the 1960s as computer memory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of California, Santa Barbara</span> Public university in Santa Barbara, California

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers' college, UCSB joined the ancestor of the California State University system in 1909 and then moved over to the University of California system in 1944. It is the third-oldest undergraduate campus in the system, after UC Berkeley and UCLA. Total student enrollment for 2022 was 23,460 undergraduate and 2,961 graduate students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Digital</span> American digital storage company

Western Digital Corporation is an American computer drive manufacturer and data storage company, headquartered in San Jose, California. It designs, manufactures and sells data technology products, including data storage devices, data center systems and cloud storage services.

In computer science, group coded recording or group code recording (GCR) refers to several distinct but related encoding methods for representing data on magnetic media. The first, used in 6250 bpi magnetic tape since 1973, is an error-correcting code combined with a run-length limited (RLL) encoding scheme, belonging into the group of modulation codes. The others are similar encoding methods used in mainframe hard disks or microcomputer floppy disks until the late 1980s. GCR is a modified form of a NRZI code, but necessarily with a higher transition density.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magneto-optical drive</span> Computer drive that uses removable MO media

A magneto-optical drive is a kind of optical disc drive capable of writing and rewriting data upon a magneto-optical disc. 130 mm (5.25 in) and 90 mm (3.5 in) discs were the most common sizes. In 1983, just a year after the introduction of the compact disc, Kees Schouhamer Immink and Joseph Braat presented the first experiments with erasable magneto-optical compact discs during the 73rd AES Convention in Eindhoven. The technology was introduced commercially in 1985. Although optical, they normally appear as hard disk drives to an operating system and can be formatted with any file system. Magneto-optical drives were common in some countries, such as Japan, but have fallen into disuse.

The RA90 disk drive was the first Digital Equipment Corporation drive to be based on "thin film" technology. Prior to the RA90 all Digital disk drives used "oxide" disks, which were an aluminum disk coated with a polyurethane binder resin containing gamma ferric oxide particles as the recording medium. The 1988-released RA90, which held 1.2GB, was used with controllers implementing the Mass Storage Control Protocol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnetic storage</span> Recording of data on a magnetizable medium

Magnetic storage or magnetic recording is the storage of data on a magnetized medium. Magnetic storage uses different patterns of magnetisation in a magnetizable material to store data and is a form of non-volatile memory. The information is accessed using one or more read/write heads.

TDK Corporation is a Japanese multinational electronics corporation that manufactures electronic components and recording and data-storage media. Its motto is "Contribute to culture and industry through creativity".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellwood Oil Field</span> Partially active, adjoining Goleta, California

Ellwood Oil Field and South Ellwood Offshore Oil Field are a pair of adjacent, partially active oil fields adjoining the city of Goleta, California, about twelve miles (19 km) west of Santa Barbara, largely in the Santa Barbara Channel. A richly productive field in the 1930s, the Ellwood Oil Field was important to the economic development of the Santa Barbara area. A Japanese submarine shelled the area during World War II. It was the first direct naval bombardment of the continental U.S. since the Civil War, causing an invasion scare on the West Coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Gurney</span> American physicist and inventor

Bruce Alvin Gurney was an American physicist responsible for pioneering advances in magnetic recording. In particular, he was central to the development of the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) sensors first used in hard disk drives in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James U. Lemke</span> Entrepreneur, inventor, physicist (b. 1930, d. 2019)

James "Jim" U. Lemke was an American physicist and entrepreneur who lived in San Diego. He developed magnetic recording and internal combustion engine technologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Fontana</span> American data storage engineer, inventor, and author

Robert E Fontana is an engineer, physicist, and author who is noted for his contributions in the areas of magnetic recording and data storage on hard disk drives (HDD) and on digital tape recorders. His work has concentrated on developing thin film processing techniques for nano-fabrication of magnetic devices including Giant Magnetoresistance read heads now used universally in magnetic recording. Much of his career was with IBM in San Jose, California. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Mallary</span> American data storage engineer, inventor, and author

Michael L. Mallary is an engineer, physicist, inventor, and author who is noted for his contributions in the areas of magnetic recording and data storage on hard disk drives (HDD). His work has concentrated on developing and optimizing magnetic components to maximize data storage density. In particular, he is responsible to inventing the 'trailing-shield' write head used universally in modern HDDs. Mallary is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and recipient of the IEEE Magnetics Society Achievement Award.

Albert Smiley Hoagland had a long career on the development of hard disk drives (HDD) starting with the IBM RAMAC. From 1956 to 1984, he was with IBM in San Jose, California, and then, from 1984 to 2005, he was the director of the Institute for Information Storage Technology at Santa Clara University. He wrote the first book on Digital Magnetic Recording. Hoagland played a central role in the preservation and restoration of the IBM RAMAC now displayed at the Computer History Museum, Mountain View, California. He died in Portland, Oregon, on 1 October 2022.

References

  1. ↑ Washington State University, The Harold Frank Engineering Entrepreneurship Institute. "About Harold Frank". Washington State University. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  2. ↑ "Editorial: Remembering Harold Frank". Pacific Coast Business Times. 24 August 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  3. ↑ Santa Barbara Independent. "Obituary, Harold Frank". Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  4. ↑ Santa Barbara Independent. "Obituary, Harold Frank". Santa Barbara Independent.
  5. 1 2 The Harold Frank Engineering Entrepreneurship Institute. "About Harold Frank". Washington State University. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Obituary, Harold Frank". Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  7. ↑ Walla Walla Union Bulletin (7 August 1966). "Local Boy Makes Good; Business Opportunities Awaiting Young People" . Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  8. ↑ Walla Walla Union Bulletin (7 August 1966). "Local Boy Makes Good; Business Opportunities Awaiting Young People".
  9. ↑ "Walla Walla Union Bulletin, "Key Equipment Starts First Year with AMC"". 20 October 1968. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  10. ↑ Walla Walla Union Bulletin (21 August 1969). "Kennedy case is universal question" . Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  11. ↑ Walla Walla Union Bulletin (30 July 1969). "Ex-resident supplied equipment for Apollo".
  12. ↑ "Applied Magnetics; Frank's Firm Will Be Listed on Big Board". Walla Walla Union Bulletin. 3 July 1971. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  13. ↑ Walla Walla Union Bulletin (3 July 1971). "Applied Magnetics; Frank's Firm Will Be Listed on Big Board" . Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  14. ↑ "Applied Magnetics to Acquire DAS Devices for $90 Million in Stock". Wall Street Journal. 25 November 1998. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  15. ↑ "Also". LA Times. 8 January 2000. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  16. ↑ "Applied Magnetics Merges with DAS Devices". Electronics Web. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  17. ↑ "Form 10-KSB, Annual Report Under Section 13 or 15(D) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Commission File No. 1-6635, Innovative Micro Technology, Inc". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  18. ↑ "Interview with IMT's CEO John Foster". MEMS Journal. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  19. ↑ "MEMS Foundry Appoints New CEO". MEMS Journal. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.