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 |