The IBM Almaden Research Center is in San Jose, California, and is one of IBM's nine worldwide research labs. Its scientists perform basic and applied research in computer science, services, storage systems, physical sciences, and materials science and technology. The center opened in 1986, and continues the research started in San Jose more than fifty years ago. Nearly all of Almaden’s approximately 500 research employees are in technical functions and more than half of these hold Ph.D.s. The lab is home to ten IBM Fellows, ten IBM Distinguished Engineers, nine IBM Master Inventors and seventeen members of the IBM Academy of Technology.
Almaden is located at 650 Harry Road on nearly 700 acres (2.8 km2) of land in the hills above Silicon Valley. The site was chosen because of its close proximity to Stanford University, UC Berkeley and other collaborative academic institutions. Research at the lab is organized into four areas: Science and Technology, Computer Science, Storage Systems, and Service Research.
IBM opened its first West Coast research centre, the San Jose Research Laboratory in 1952, managed by Reynold B. Johnson. Amongst its first developments was the IBM 350, the first commercial moving head hard disk drive. Launched in 1956, this saw use in the IBM 305 RAMAC computer system.
Prompted by a need for additional space, the center moved to its present Almaden location in 1986.
Scientists at the IBM Almaden center have contributed to several scientific discoveries such as the development of photoresistors and the quantum mirage effect.
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