Alumni in Technology
Computerizing Electrical Systems with Virtual Wiring
Stev St evee Morss ’73 hen Ste Stevve Morss ’73 was a little boy boy, he lov loved ed to take things apart apart to find find out how how they wor worked, ked, though he usually usually managed managed to get get them back back together together before before incurring incurring his parents’ parents’ wrath. He moved mov ed on on to “in invventing enting”” co contraptio ntraptions ns fro from stray stray batteries, batteries, car ardboar dboard, d, light bulbs, and tape tape.. But it was at Fenn, he rrec ecalls, alls, that he w wor orked ked with one one of the first first mainframe computers computers at Dartmouth, Dartmouth, co connecting nnecting through thr ough a bulky telety teletype machine over over a pho phone ne line. line.
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Interestingly, Steve never took another course in digital electronics or computer programming in high school or college, or in graduate school at Princeton. From Fenn he went to Phillips Exeter, after which he earned a bachelor’s degree in physics at Princeton. After working for a year as an engineering assistant at a solar power company, he took a “fantastic” course in lab electronics at Harvard Extension School, which motivated him to build and study electronics on his own. When he returned to Princeton as a graduate student in semiconductor physics, he had already built his first computer from circuit boards, wires, and IC’s (integrated circuits). Steve also has an MS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Harvard, has worked as digital design engineer at Wang Laboratories and as the director of ERX hardware development at Redstone Communications. Redstone was bought by Siemens, a global force in electronics and electrical engineering, and put in a holding company called Unisphere Solutions, where Steve served as VP of Hardware Development.
BUT IT WAS AT FENN, HE RECALLS, THAT HE WORKED WITH ONE OF THE FIRST MAINFRAME COMPUTERS AT DARTMOUTH, CONNECTING THROUGH A BULKY TELETYPE MACHINE OVER A PHONE LINE. Nowadays Steve runs Catalina Computing from his Concord home, which he shares with his wife, Lili. They have three daughters: Alexandra, Abigail, and Caroline. The technology Steve has developed, called Virtual Wiring, allows one to use a web interface instead of actual wiring to interconnect systems. In other words, the technology makes much of the time and money spent on an electrician unnecessary; in one’s home, lights and switches can be connected to a small computer, he explains. Then,
for example, lights can be controlled by switches that are set up by connecting virtual “wires” on the web page. This way, a computer program “can control almost anything, almost anywhere,” he says. Catalina is a one-man operation. The product is currently installed in a number of private homes and in one small business. Steve foresees “some interesting markets licensing the technology for larger companies,” but needs to have patents in place for that to happen. Catalina also has, he says, “some fun applications” for engineers, hobbyists, and students. Recalling his time at Fenn, Steve credits his advisor and teacher Jim Carter ’54 not only with offering “entertaining” classes but also with “making sure we were disciplined and worked hard.” He and his classmates would laugh when Jim scolded boys who were “chattering in the corner of the room,” Steve said, “but we knew we had to get serious. I got serious,” he added, “and that is saying a lot, because I’d always been pretty noisy in class.”
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