Early Life and Career
A native of Kunshan County in Suzhou Prefecture, he was born in Shanghai, China, and graduated from Chiao Tung University with a degree in electrical engineering in 1940. He emigrated to the United States in June 1945 to attend Harvard University for graduate school, earning a PhD in applied physics in 1948. After graduation, he worked at Harvard with Dr Howard Aiken on the design of the Mark IV, Aiken's first fully electronic computer. Wang co-invented the pulse transfer controlling device with Way-Dong Woo, a schoolmate from China who fell ill before their patent was issued. The new device implemented write-after-read which made magnetic core memory possible. Harvard reduced its commitment to computer research in 1951, prompting Wang's departure.
Read more about this topic: An Wang
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