Science Friday > Archives > 2004 > February > February 27, 2004:
Hour One: Hydrogen from Ethanol / Engineering Awards: Computing Pioneers

This week, the National Academy of Engineering awarded its highest honor, the Charles Stark Draper Prize, to four men who revolutionized computing. Working at the legendary Palo Alto Research Center, or Xerox PARC, they developed many of the ideas, from a graphical user interface to simple networking, that have helped make personal computers so personal. In this hour, we'll talk with three of the award-winning engineers about their work, and about the history--and future--of computing.

Plus, there's a new, simpler way of extracting hydrogen from ethanol. Will it help change our energy economy? Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (2-3 Eastern), and share your opinions online in our Listeners' Lounge (registration required).

Guests:
Lanny Schmidt
Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
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Alan C. Kay
Senior Fellow, HP Labs
Hewlett-Packard Company
Palo Alto, California

Robert W. Taylor
Director Emeritus, Systems Research Center
Compaq Computer Corporation
Palo Alto, California

Charles P. Thacker
Distinguished Engineer, Emerging Technologies Group
Microsoft Corporation
Mountain View, California

This segment produced by Charles Bergquist

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