Australia's second stored program computer (after
CSIRAC), designed and built at the School of
Physics of the
University of Sydney between
1953 and
1956. It was made possible by the winnings of Sir Adolph Brasser, an
alumnus who donated AUS50,000 to its development when his
horse won the
Melbourne Cup. It was used for scientific calculations, and its makers claimed that it could do 'three months work in ten minutes.'
SILLIAC had 2800 valves or vacuum tubes. It
had two heat exchangers, one at each end of the machine, to keep it cool. Each was just large enough to act as a cooler for six bottles of beer.
SILLIAC was dismantled at a decommisioning ceremony in May 1968. University staff and students were permitted to take parts of it home with them.
University of Sydney