Paul J. Friedl is known by many people as the “Father of the Personal Computer” He was the chief architect and inventor of the world’s first personal computer and also developed the predecessor of the modern spreadsheet program in 1973, long before personal computers, as we know them today, were introduced. He christened his computer “SCAMP” (Special Computer APL Machine Portable), and it became the father of the IBM 5100 and the grandfather of the ubiquitous IBM PC, which was introduced in August 1981, nearly eight years later The original SCAMP is now in the Smithsonian Institute.

Dr. Friedl’s 32-year career with the IBM Palo Alto Scientific Center as a senior engineer and manager included pioneering work in industrial process control, laboratory automation, knowledge-based expert systems, distributed computing, and computer conferencing systems. He also authored many technical papers and patent disclosures. He invented the IBM People Sharing Information Network (PSInet) Computer Conferencing System, which is being used by kindergarten through 12th-grade educators throughout the country.

He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and is a Registered Professional Control Systems Engineer in California. He received his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in Chemical Engineering from Case Institute of Technology, where he was a Westinghouse Fellow for two years.

Dr. Friedl represents the perfect combination of a practical engineer with numerous scientific and practical accomplishments to his credit and the visionary who works to transform the future into today’s reality.