In late 1952 Christopher L Johnson, a 37-year-old graduate engineer at Rolls-Royce, was commissioned to report on the value and feasibility of a “Proposed Computer Installation for the Design Department”.
You can read the full report below and a here is a link to a our news feature on the report and its discovery.
A few months later, on 2 March 1953, the report was submitted and recommended that a computer should be acquired by Rolls-Royce and so began the engine-manufacturer’s position as a leader in the engineering and aviation application of computers in the UK.