The UK-based Computer Conservation Society presents the Tony Sale Award every two years. For 2018, it has gone to the Center for Technology and Innovation in Binghamton, New York, also known as Techworks!, which has brought back to life a Second World War analogue flight simulator, a 1960s solid-state hardware version and a digital simulator from the 1980s.

Located in the vintage Binghamton Ice Cream Company factory, Techworks! seeks to document the local area’s inventions and industrial innovations. The project was inspired by Binghamton’s reputation as the birthplace of flight simulation and, according to the team behind it, presented very different challenges requiring contrasting skill sets. A commitment to improving public access to the simulators means the public has been able to experience each of the three so called ‘Pilot Makers’ to grasp the pace of innovation and development of simulation technology.

The prize was established in 2012 in honour of Tony Sale (1931-2011), leader of the team that rebuilt Colossus, the world’s first electronic computer, and a key figure in kickstarting the campaign to save Bletchley Park in the early 1990s. He co-founded the National Museum of Computing at the Bletchley site and jointly established the Computer Conservation Society.

Previous winners include the Heinz-Nixdorf MuseumsForum for its reconstruction showing how ENIAC, one of the first electronic computers, was programmed; the IBM 1401 Demo Lab restoration at the Computer History Museum in California, and Z1 Architecture and Algorithms, a virtual reconstruction of the 1930’s Konrad Zuse mechanical computer by the Free University of Berlin.

Computer historian Prof Martin-Campbell-Kelly, who chaired the judging panel, commented: “In reproducing novel computing applications which the public can experience first-hand, the Techworks! team gives us an unforgettable impression of the early days of virtual worlds. Excellent research, skilled implementation and an impactful result make this a superb example of the power and relevance of computer conservation, something that I know would have met with the late Tony Sale’s enthusiasm and approval.”

Campbell-Kelly was joined on the panel by Nigel Sale, computer scientist and son of Tony Sale, along with Chris Burton, engineer and computer conservationist, and Doron Swade MBE, museum curator and author.

Also in the running this year were a reconstruction of Clementina, a Ferranti Mercury computer and the first scientific computer in Argentina, by the Museo de Informática ICATEC in Buenos Aires, a restoration of the EL-X8 computer by the Electrologica Foundation at the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave in the Netherlands, and the US-based SIMH Computer History Simulation Project, which aims to provide a second life for computer software when the original hardware is no longer available.

The shortlist was completed by Martin Gillow’s Virtual Colossus Project, a simulation of the Colossus as rebuilt by Tony Sale and of the Lorenz cypher machine, which runs on any web browser.

The UK-based Computer Conservation Society presents the Tony Sale Award every two years. For 2018, it has gone to the Center for Technology and Innovation in Binghamton, New York, also known as Techworks!, which has brought back to life a Second World War analogue flight simulator, a 1960s solid-state hardware version and a digital simulator from the 1980s.

Located in the vintage Binghamton Ice Cream Company factory, Techworks! seeks to document the local area’s inventions and industrial innovations. The project was inspired by Binghamton’s reputation as the birthplace of flight simulation and, according to the team behind it, presented very different challenges requiring contrasting skill sets. A commitment to improving public access to the simulators means the public has been able to experience each of the three so called ‘Pilot Makers’ to grasp the pace of innovation and development of simulation technology.

The prize was established in 2012 in honour of Tony Sale (1931-2011), leader of the team that rebuilt Colossus, the world’s first electronic computer, and a key figure in kickstarting the campaign to save Bletchley Park in the early 1990s. He co-founded the National Museum of Computing at the Bletchley site and jointly established the Computer Conservation Society.

Previous winners include the Heinz-Nixdorf MuseumsForum for its reconstruction showing how ENIAC, one of the first electronic computers, was programmed; the IBM 1401 Demo Lab restoration at the Computer History Museum in California, and Z1 Architecture and Algorithms, a virtual reconstruction of the 1930’s Konrad Zuse mechanical computer by the Free University of Berlin.

Computer historian Prof Martin-Campbell-Kelly, who chaired the judging panel, commented: “In reproducing novel computing applications which the public can experience first-hand, the Techworks! team gives us an unforgettable impression of the early days of virtual worlds. Excellent research, skilled implementation and an impactful result make this a superb example of the power and relevance of computer conservation, something that I know would have met with the late Tony Sale’s enthusiasm and approval.”

Campbell-Kelly was joined on the panel by Nigel Sale, computer scientist and son of Tony Sale, along with Chris Burton, engineer and computer conservationist, and Doron Swade MBE, museum curator and author.

Also in the running this year were a reconstruction of Clementina, a Ferranti Mercury computer and the first scientific computer in Argentina, by the Museo de Informática ICATEC in Buenos Aires, a restoration of the EL-X8 computer by the Electrologica Foundation at the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave in the Netherlands, and the US-based SIMH Computer History Simulation Project, which aims to provide a second life for computer software when the original hardware is no longer available.

The shortlist was completed by Martin Gillow’s Virtual Colossus Project, a simulation of the Colossus as rebuilt by Tony Sale and of the Lorenz cypher machine, which runs on any web browser.