Acronyms

The department has long thrived on acronyms - TLAs (three letter acronyms) and ETLAs (extended three letter acronyms) in particular - and the history web pages are no exception.

Here we decode the acronyms used on this site. Note that these were accurate as at August 2011.

ACA Advanced Computer Architectures - one of the main research groupings in the Department
AI Artificial Intelligence - one of the main research groupings in the Department
ASR Automatic send/receive - a type of on-line terminal (teleprinter + paper tape) important in the early days of interactive computing
BCS British Computer Society - a society with statutory recognition
CBURC Computer Board for Universities and Research Councils - a quango for feeding much-needed public money into an uncomprehending university system
CEE Council of Engineering Institutions - a body that succeeded the EC following the Finniston report and was recognised by statute
in its own right: it is now EUK
CSAC Computing Service Advisory Committee - a body that succeeded CSC when the academic and service arms of the Department split
CSC Computer Steering Committee - a body that oversaw the setting-up and early operation of the Department of Computation
CVPR Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition - one of the main research groupings in the Department
DEC Digital Equipment Corporation - a US computer company that manufactured many systems important to universities
DSc Doctor of Science - a higher doctorate whose history long predates PhD
DSIR Department for Scientific and Industrial Research - quango (not a ministry) that funded early computer developments,
and eventually became SRC
EC Engineering Council - an umbrella body for engineering societies with statutory recognition, that later became the CEE
EE English Electric - a British electrical, electronic and aerospace company that was important for computers between 1950 and 1980
EELM English Electric Leo Marconi - a merger of the large-computer interests of three British electronics companies
EPSRC Engineering and Physical Science Research Council - a quango that succeeded SERC
ES Enterprise Systems - one of the main research groupings in the Department
EUK Engineering UK - the statutory body that oversees standards of engineering in the UK via its member institutions: formerly CEE
GAB General Academic Board - a ruling body within the University of York that had individually-elected members: it was a 'House
of Commons' to the other body, Professorial Board, that was its 'House of Lords' - they were both replaced by Senate
GE General Electric - a large US electrical company (no connection with UK GEC)
GEC General Electric Company - a former UK electrical company that now no longer exists (no connection with US GE)
HCI Human-Computer Interaction - one of the main research groupings in the Department
HISE High-Integrity Systems Engineering - one of the main research groupings in the Department
IBM International Business Machines - a US computer company
ICL International Computers Ltd - a merger of EELM and ICT, later absorbed by Fujitsu
ICT International Computers and Tabulators - a manufacturer of electromechanical card-based business machines and, later, computers
IEE Institution of Electrical Engineers - the largest and one of the oldest engineering societies with statutory recognition: now the IET
IET Institution of Engineering and Technology - a body that was formerly the IEE
KSR Keyboard send/receive - a type of on-line terminal (teleprinter only) important in the early days of interactive computing
LEO Lyons Electronic Office - an early commercial data-processing system manufactured by Leo Computers Ltd (London)
NSC Non-Standard Computation - one of the main research groupings in the Department
PLS Programming Languages and Systems - one of the main research groupings in the Department
RTS Real-Time Systems - one of the main research groupings in the Department
RXDS Rank Xerox Data Systems - a former UK computer services company that used, and marketed, XDS computers
SE Software Engineering (also SWE) (formerly also Software Technology)
SERC Science and Engineering Research Council - a quango that succeeded SRC, and later became EPSRC
SRC Science Research Council - a quango that succeeded DSIR, and later became SERC
SWE Software Engineering (also SE) (formerly also Software Technology)
UGC University Grants Committee - a quango that distributed funds, supplied directly by the Treasury, to British universities for
teaching and research (for staff, equipment, buildings, etc.) - later placed under the Department of Education (as was)
XDS Xerox Data Systems - a former US computer manufacturer
YCSSA York Centre for Complex Systems Analysis - an interdepartmental research grouping within the University