Nick DeWolf
Encyclopedia
Teradyne
Teradyne , a US company, is a supplier of automatic test equipment . The company's divisions Semiconductor Test and Systems Test Group, are organized by the products they develop and deliver.-History:...
, a Boston, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
-based manufacturer of automatic test equipment
Automatic test equipment
Automatic or Automated Test Equipment is any apparatus that performs tests on a device, known as the Device Under Test , using automation to quickly perform measurements and evaluate the test results...
. He founded the company in 1960 with Alex d’Arbeloff, a classmate at MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
.
He was born in Philadelphia and he graduated with an S.B. in EECS
EECS
EECS may refer to:* Electrical Engineering & Computer Science* European Energy Certificate System...
from MIT in 1948.
During his eleven years as CEO of Teradyne, DeWolf is credited with designing more than 300 semiconductor and other test systems, including the J259, the world's first computer-operated integrated circuit tester.
After leaving Teradyne in 1971, DeWolf moved to Aspen
Aspen, Colorado
The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, where in 1979, he teamed with artist Travis Fulton to create Aspen's "dancing fountain". DeWolf also designed a computer system without hard disk
Hard disk
A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
s or fan
Fan (implement)
A hand-held fan is an implement used to induce an airflow for the purpose of cooling or refreshing oneself. Any broad, flat surface waved back-and-forth will create a small airflow and therefore can be considered a rudimentary fan...
s; this system (the ON! computer) booted up in seconds, a much faster time than even the computers of today.
In 2001, DeWolf was awarded the Telluride Tech Festival Award of Technology. In 2005, Nick and his wife, Maggie DeWolf, were inducted into the Aspen Hall of Fame.
DeWolf was also a keen photographer.
DeWolf died in Aspen at the age of 77.
Quotes
"What the customer demands is last year's model, cheaper. To find out what the customer needs you have to understand what the customer is doing as well as he understands it. Then you build what he needs and you educate him to the fact that he needs it.""To select a component, size a product, design a system or plan a new company, first test the extremes and then have the courage to resist what is popular and the wisdom to choose what is best".