BBN
 | |
| Type: | Public |
| Industry: | ICT Industry |
| Founded: | 1940 |
| Founder(s): | Richard Bolt Leo Beranek Robert Newman |
| Headquarters: | 10 Moulton Street Cambridge, MA 02138 |
| Country: | USA |
| Website: | www.bbn.com |
| Key People | |
| Robert G. Elmer, President | |
BBN (Bolt, Beranek and Newman) now Raytheon BBN Technologies is one of the leading Research and Development companies in the United States dedicated in providing high-technology products and services to consumers. The company specializes in speech recognotion technologies, cyber security, advanced networking, sensor systems and information & knowledge technologies. BBN was one of the research companies involved in the development of ARPANET, which became the internet. The company was known for developing the packet switching, the first network e-mail and the first router.[1] Robert G. Elmer serves as president of the company and its' main office is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
History
The Birth of BBN
BBN originated from the acoustics consulting firm founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professors Richard Bolt and Leo Beranek. Both men were in-charge of the MIT Acoustical Laboratory, which was known as the leading leading research and teaching laboratory in acoustics. Wallace Harrison, the architect who designed the United Nations headquarters in New York City asked MIT to provide consulting services for the acoustic design of the General Assembly Hall. The bidding request was passed down to Bolt and he won the contract. He figured that the job was too big and he cannot handle alone. He asked Beranek to help him with the project. At that time, the MIT administration was not interested in providing commercial consulting services but the institute allowed its employees to provide private consultancies during their free days. MIT rented out two rooms to Bolt and Beranek as their initial office and encouraged them to create a partnership, which was formed on November 1948. During the early years, Bolt and Beranek were working on the acoustical design of the UN General Assembly Hall, General radio Company and for New York City movie theaters that were previously awarded to Beranek. They were also providing noise control consultancies for some establishments. In 1950, Robert Newman became a partner of the firm. The partnership became Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN) Inc. From an acoustics consulting firm the partnership became an innovative research and development company.[2] [3]