SRI International

SRI International is an organization known for innovation, investigation, and consulting. This research-and-design (R&D) institution has developed advanced technologies for more than 55 years, contributing to the creation of many products, pharmaceuticals, and computer tools currently used in countless areas.

Originally named the Stanford Research Institute, the SRI was established in 1946 through a joint effort between Stanford University and several business executives. The idea behind the institution's formation was an interest in understanding the change of science and technology in a manner that could shape the future. The most distinctive feature of the research center is the way it operates. The institution functions as a business in a sense that it must solely support itself. Comprised of several scholars, well known for contributions to particular research areas, SRI receives negotiated fees from customers in return for consulting, research, or concept developments. SRI has a customer base that includes governments, businesses, and other establishments. Research conducted at SRI includes study in a wide range of areas and topics. Such disciplines as communication, information sciences, biotechnology, chemistry, and physics serve as a backdrop for the establishment's areas of expertise.

As early as 1946, the institution began work on and introduced a chemical called dodecyl benzene that changed household cleaning forever. While consulting for a petroleum company named Chevron, SRI found a substitute for components that were used in hand soap, and dodecyl benzene became a standard part of household detergent.

During the 1950s, Walt Disney asked SRI for help in developing Disneyland. The R&D center offered recommendations on an Anaheim, California, location, set plans for making the amusement park feasible, and even predicted attendance trends. SRI also delved into computer technology after a request from the Bank of America. With a growing increase in financial patronage, the bank requested a technology that could aid in the processes of accounting and handling checks. SRI's solution was to produce a primitive automated teller machine called ERMA (Electronic Recording Machine, Accounting). ERMA was commercially released in 1959, and was used by the Bank of America until the early 1970s. It created a foundation for the highly electronic methods of banking in use today.

During the 1960s, SRI became a birthplace for communication technologies. According to the SRI Technology Web site, the organization was only one of four remote locations to be connected to the Advanced Research Projects Agency's (ARPA) ARPANET, the first form of the Internet. On October 20, 1969, SRI received the very first data transmission from the University of California, Los Angeles. This decade also served as a time of drastic computer-technology innovation for SRI. Under the direction of Douglas Engelbart, the organization produced concepts of a software widows interface, data sharing, and devices that permitted interactivity with computers.

The efforts of Engelbart and SRI have been a major force in the creation of additional computer technology and tools. The first computer mouse, made of wood, was only one of many inventions constructed by Engelbart. His contributions include conceptions of hypermedia and hypertext similar to that employed by Web pages, easy-to-use computer interfaces, and teleconferencing.

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