WHAT:
Automatic Computing Engine (ACE)
WHERE:
NPL, Hampton Rd, Teddington, TW11 0LW, UK
LOCATION:
WHEN:
1946
WHO:
Alan Turing
DETAILS:
The Automatic Computing Engine (ACE) was one of the earliest electronic stored‑program computers, designed at the National Physical Laboratory by pioneering mathematician Alan Turing. Work on ACE began in the mid‑1940s, and the prototype known as the Pilot ACE ran its first program in 1950. At the time, it was one of the fastest computers in the world and introduced key design principles that influenced the future of computing. Although the full ACE was never completed, the project laid crucial foundations for modern computer architecture and demonstrated NPL’s role at the forefront of digital innovation.
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