When Bill began working at Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1960, the company was working on a project that would revolutionize the way that phone systems operated: the 101 Electronic Switching System, or #1ESS. Prior to 1960s, connecting a call was a mechanical procedure. As a caller dialed, instruments within the phone switching machinery would move to indicate each digit, eventually completing the entire phone number and making the call.
With the #1ESS, Bell Labs hoped to use transistors to create the first computerized switching system. Instead of having the switching machinery input one digit at a time, the #1ESS would have a computer memory to store entire phone numbers, which would allow calls to be speed dialed, forwarded, routed to different numbers or extensions, and delayed by putting callers on hold.
The #1ESS project was an excellent fit for Bill’s interest in transistors. Bell Labs assigned him to work for the engineer who was developing the temporary computer memory for #1ESS. As a technician, Bill helped to collect and analyze data to create prototypes for the system’s memory devices.
Bill found that Bell Labs encouraged innovation from employees, and he received several patents for amplification and voltage regulation inventions that he developed while working on the #1ESS project.
Another thing that Bell Labs prioritized was education. On advice from other Bell Labs scientists, Bill decided to return to school and get his bachelor’s degree. The company paid for him to attend classes at Monmouth College at night. The timing seemed ideal. Bill was able to learn advanced mathematical and engineering principles during his night classes, then observe those same lessons in action during the day at Bell Labs.
As he neared graduation from Monmouth College in 1967, Bill set his sights on becoming a Member of Technical Staff (MTS) at Bell Labs and getting a master’s degree. During his seven years at Bell Labs, Bill had worked his way up the ranks from a technician role to the rank of Associate Member of Technical Staff (AMTS). Becoming an MTS would allow Bill to work on a much wider scope of job assignments, and he would have access to a program Bell Labs offered to MTS staff: a paid year off to attend graduate school.
Bill was certain that he would be accepted into the MTS program. He had a high GPA and several engineering patents. However, just before his last semester at Monmouth College, Bill’s manager informed him that he would not be offered an MTS position.
Bill was shocked and upset. He felt betrayed by Bell Labs. Despite the opportunities that Bell had offered him in the past, Bill realized that the company’s degree-oriented structure would likely prevent him from future advancement. He decided that it was time to find a new position and resolved to get a job working on computer memory projects at the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
To prepare for his job interview at IBM, Bill set up interviews with several other companies: Ford Motor, Honeywell, Digital Equipment, and Data General. His last interview would be with IBM and would include a three-day visit to their headquarters. All the companies that Bill interviewed for offered him a position, which meant that he had to make a difficult decision. Despite his earlier determination to work for IBM, what he had learned during the interview process made him hesitate. Bill later said that he suspected that IBM was “too much like Bell Labs…at Bell Labs [the school I went to] did matter. At least I perceived that it mattered. And I was not going to let that interfere with me at IBM.”
Instead of taking the job at IBM, Bill found himself drawn to Honeywell’s offer. Honeywell was a leader in the computer industry. By accepting a job there, Bill hoped to set himself up for career advancement, graduate education, and the potential to continue working in the cutting-edge field of computer memory.
Bell Telephone Laboratories and Further Education
