Category: UCC

U Tin Swe (GBNF)

• Power User at UCC.
  Supervised Ko Aung Kyaw Pe (EP69) for his Master’s thesis.
  Worked on Power Distribution & Analysis programs
  Collaborated with former students including Dr. San Oo (EP67).
• Wrongly called as U Tint Swe, U Tin Shwe and U Tin Shwe Gyi
• Brother : U Nan Wai (famous Painter)
• Member of the Prome Hall Football (Soccer) team which won the Inter-Hall Soccer Tournament for three consecutive years.
• Played Tennis
• Graduated with EE in 1953.
• MS from University of Michigan studies in the USA.
• Upon his return, he became a Lecturer.
• In the early days, there were few Professorships.
  Passed away before the creation of EC and EP Departments.

Saya Allen Htay (GBNF)

• Saya Allen Htay (C58) joined the Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University as an Assistant Lecturer.
• Masters from Harvard University.
  On the return journey by an ocean liner, he played Bridge with Saya U Soe Paing, Saya U Tin Maung Nyunt and Saya U Ko Ko Lay. They became close friends.
• Loves RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) and Scheme (Lexically scoped LISP).
• Supervised the Final Year Thesis for U Kyaw Thu (Dennis Mackey, C73) and George Peters.
  Program for the Thesis was run on ICL1902S Computer at UCC.

U Myint Sein (GBNF)

• Attended PPBRS (Private Primary Boundary Road School), SPHS (St. Paul’s High School) and IE (Institute of Economics)
• Cousin : U Nyunt Tin (M70, RIT Table Tennis)
• Served as Principal of BARB (Burma Astro Research Bureau).
• Taught Medical Astrology at the School of Indigenous Medicine (Taing Yin Saya Pyinnya) in Mandalay.
• Later founded “Idea Astrology”.
• He is my childhood friend.
  As Principal at BARB, he asked me if I can help him to speed up some Veda processes (e.g. generation of a Natal Horoscope).
  I assigned two students Ko Win Latt and Ko Zaw Tun to develop computer programs for the Veda projects.
• He is GBNF.
  It was good news and bad news for his son, who was back in Yangon to take examination for Master Mariner.
  He lost his father, but was present at his father’s last journey.

Ko Win Latt

Ko Win Latt owned a computer and was also an excellent programmer. Under my supervision and with the guidance of U Myint Sein, Ko Win Latt came up with three versions. He named then WinHoro V3, V6 and V9.

V3 produces the “basic” horoscope with Yathi (Rasi), Bawa and Nawin (Navamsa). It is also known as “Tri Cekka Zatar” referring to the three parts. It takes some time (a few minutes to an hour) if done manually.

V6 produces a “better” horoscope.

V9 produces the “best” horoscope.

WinHoro was implemented using BASIC.

He worked in Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore and Thailand.

Ko Zaw Tun

One needs expert knowledge to “interpret” a Zartar. Ko Zaw Tun used Prolog (language for Logic Programming) to implement the Bedin Rules. He tested his program with several sets of data. He was surprised when his program said that “the Two Year Old is a rich person (possibly a Millionaire)”. He thought that there must be a bug. It turned out that the Two Year Old is the grand son of a wealthy Sawbwa, who decided that his grand son should inherit his wealth.

He worked in Myanmar and Singapore

Ko San Myint Thane (Sammy, EC79)

Sammy asked his brother Dr. Thein Toe Thane in the USA to send him some books and a Microprocessor tool kit for use in his Final Year Project. Sammy and Kelvin used the microprocessor tool kit and ran demo on the assembled microprocessor.

Sammy spent some time at UCC while waiting to migrate to the USA.

Duality

• The concept of Duality can be found in Mathematics and Logic.
• The “Line-Point Duality” says that “Two intersecting lines determine a point. Two points determine a line [which passes through both]”. In this Geometric aspect, Line and Point are duals.
• De Morgan’s Theorems in “Set Theory” and “Boolean Algebra” are duals.
• The book by Klingman discussed “Hardware Software Duality”. He said that “Any hardware can be implemented in software. Any software can be implemented in hardware.”
• There are trade-offs to consider whether to use hardware, software, firmware or a combination.

Great Expectations and Relaxation Techniques

Sammy’s mother wanted Sammy to get married and was willing to find suitable candidates, but Sammy set the requirements too high. She must be young, intelligent, and able to play Classical and Modern music.

Finally, by applying some “Relaxation Techniques”, Sammy became a loving spouse and a caring father of twins.

Charlie Tseng (EC70)

• Saya U Soe Paing had recruited him, but he managed to migrate to the USA before the UCC employees were “selected and validated” by PSC (Public Services Commission).
• Formed a company called VersaSoft (somewhat similar to the D-Base software).
• Spouse : Diana (ChE71) is a Chemical Engineer and worked as Manager of a Division of IBM (International Business Machines).
• Pays respect to Saya U Soe Paing whenever Saya visits the San Francisco Bay Area.

Ko Khin Maung Zaw

• Worked for Systems Division
• Moved to Singapore and US)

Miscellaneous

There are several who volunteered and/or worked for the UCC project. They include

• U Myint Oo (Later worked at Phaung Gyi Training School)
• U Ba Than Aye (Myo Myint Lay, GBNF) joined the Army and died in a car accident
• U Sein Tin (moved to Australia)
• U Wynn Myint Aung (moved to US)
• Lucas Lee (Sein Tun, moved to US)
• U Tauk Tun (Mickey)

U Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ, SPHS70, EC76, UCC) lives in Seattle, USA. He visited Yangon several times.

U Than Tun spends his time between Yangon and Northern California.

U Ngwe Soe / Silver spends his time between Yangon and Singapore.

U Tun Shwe worked for UN assignments abroad.

U Thet Lwin used to work in Thailand and Singapore. He hosted a breakfast gathering for the UCC Old Timers.

KMZ wrote :

Another UCC old-timers, a. k. a. Ah Pho Gyi’s, Ah Pho Lats & Ah Pho Lay’s, met for breakfast at Halpin Feel, 17th Dec 2018. Treat by U Thet Lwin

U Maung Maung Gyi, U Than Tun, U Tun Shwe (TS), U Thet Lwin, U Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ) , U Myint Swe, U Myint Oo, U Ngwe Soe (Silver), U Aung Myint (AM).

I happened to be flanked by two long time friends since their days at SPHS – St. Paul’s High School. Sadly, both of them are now GBNF, may their beautiful souls rest in peace, looking down on us from somewhere above.

Dr. Chit Swe

• See several of my posts

Dr. Tin Maung

• Father : Saya U Kar (former Minister in Caretaker Government in 1958).
• Received his doctorate in Mathematics from Queen Mary College.
• Succeeded Saya Dr. Chit Swe as Director of UCC.
• During his tenure, the Department of Computer Science (DCS) and the Institute of Computer Science and Technology (ICST) were established.
• Served as the first Rector of ICST.

U Ko Ko Lay

• Saya Dr. Chit Swe founded UCC with the help of Saya U Soe Paing, Saya U Myo Min and Saya U Ko Ko Lay.
• Received his BSCE and MSCE from Stanford University.
• Joined PWD
• Transferred to UCC as Operations Manager.
• Served as Scientific Applications Manager, Professor of Computer Science at DCS, and Professor of Information Technology at ICST.

CO U Hla Min

• He is my namesake.
  Those outside UCC were not aware that he was one year junior to me at St. Paul’s High School and RIT.
• Graduated from RIT with Electrical Power in 1970.
• Joined UCC as Chief Operator (CO).
• Attended post-graduate course in UK
  Met his beloved one doing Advanced Nurse Training in UK
• I became a “Tone Kyaw” when he passed away at the tender age of 30+.
  Two government training centers (where I had given guest lecturers) planned to send “Lwan Thu Pann Chway” to me.
  My classmate U Moe Hein (Ajala) took leave to attend my “funeral” at the Kyandaw Cemetery.

U Mya Thein

• Joined the Department of Commerce, Institute of Economics.
• Transferred to UCC as Business Applications Programmer along with U Thein Oo.
• Succeeded me as Business Applications Manager.
• Taught not only at UCC, DCS and ICST, but also at the International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University (ITBMU).

U Kyaw Nyein

• Joined UCC as Scientific Applications Manager.
• Taught Numerical Methods and/or Numerical Analysis.
• Played soccer and volleyball at UCC.
• Served as a UNV in the Middle East . During an assignment, he and his team had to be “relocated” due to “war/conflict” in the area.

U Maung Maung Gyi

• Joined UCC as Operator
• Served as Shift Leader.
• Succeeded CO U Hla Min as Chief Operator.

U Soe Myint

• Graduated from RIT with Mechanical Engineering in 1972.
  His M72 friends called him “Phone Gyi” since there were four Soe Myint in their class.
• Joined UCC as Operator.
• Since there was a M.Sc. (CS) student with the same name, he is called as “Sunlun Soe Myint” and “Soe Myint Gyi”.
• Attended DAC.
• Had training in US (on graphics …)
• Taught Mechanical Drawing and AutoCAD to ICST students.
• Retired as Pro-Rector of ICST.

U Myint Aung

• Served as Office Superintendent in the Admin Division of UCC.
• Would often volunteer to drive the E-2000 ferry.
• Close friend of Ko Khin Maung Zaw’s father.

Daw Khin Lay Myint

• Joined UCC as Secretary.
• Became a Branch Clerk.

Daw Nge Ma Ma Than

• Younger daughter of U Aung Than (brother of Bogyoke Aung San).
• Prisoner of Conscience.
• During the Adhamma era, she was detained along with her husband U Myint Swe (UCC) and her brother.

U Win Naing

• Science Scholar.
• Attended the 1st batch of M.Sc. (CS) with the Systems Option.

Miscellaneous

U Shein Soe Myint

• EC83 batch.
• Served in various capacities at UCC (Engineering, Teaching …)
• Passed away in Singapore while doing his Ph.D.

U Aung Aung Thein

• Colleague of U Kyaw Zwar Soe.
• Served in various capacities at UCC (Engineering, Teaching)
• Younger brother U Kyaw Kyaw Thein is also ex-UCC.

U Thein Tan

• Close friend of U Zaw Tun.

Daw Hla Hla Win

• Worked for Operations Division.
• Attended DAC.
• Spouse : U Than Tun.

Daw Khin San Hlaing Aung (Cynthia)

• Joined UCC as Librarian.
• Attended M.Sc. (CS).
• Was at Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)
• Migrated to Australia.

Daw Kyu Kyu Lwin

• Served as “ad hoc” Tutor for Mathematics Department.
• Worked for the Operations Division.
• She attended DAC.
• She transferred to Social Security Board (SSB) Computer Section.

Daw Win May Thaung

• Worked for the Operations Division.
• Cousin : Ronnie Hla Maung (my middle school class mate)

Daw Khin Mya Swe

• M.Sc. (CS)
• Passed away in Lesotho.

Daw Khin Toe Nyein

• M.Sc. (CS)
• Classmates : Pale Shein, Thet Htar Su.

Daw Thida Aung

• M.Sc. (CS)
• Classmates : Thida Khin, Mu Mu Myint, Mar Mar Soe

Daw Aye Aye Kyi

• Served as Librarian.
• Passed away around 2013.
• Spouse : U Han Nyunt (SPHS63)

DEC Computers

• Ken Olson and several other MIT alumni founded DEC (Digital Equipment Corporate).
  
• Grapevine says that there was a protocol in government departments to “purchase computer”.
  In order to circumvent that, DEC named their mini-computers as PDP (Programmable Digital Processors).
  
• CHM (Computer History Museum) has a PDP-1 on display. Retired DEC engineers “restored” a PDP-1. The exhibit has demos :
  one for play a “primitive” Space War game,
  another for “playing” music …

• PDP-8 is a 12-bit mini-computer used in many universities of that period.
  
• PDP-11 is a 16-bit mini-computer.
  UCC acquired PDP11/70

• VT-101 (or similar) terminals became the “new” mode of entering and running programs.
  
• DEC later introduced VAX (Virtual Address eXtended) series.
  
• Gordon Bell was the VAX architect and co-author of the book using CMS (Computer Memory System) and “formal” methods to describe and evaluate computer systems.
  The artifacts that he collected for the book project were displayed in DEC as BCM (Boston Computer Museum) with Gwen Bell as the Curator.
  It later became CHM (Computer History Museum) in Mountain View, California.

CHM (Computer History Museum)

• I volunteered as a Docent for CHM for a couple of years.
  I had to give guided tours (for 45 minutes to an hour).
• One child asked his father how fast the 10 Million Dollar computer (Cray 1) was.
  The reply, “It’s slower than your PC and your smart phone”.

Feedback

KMZ wrote :

It was a shame that DEC/VAX/VMS did not take off well as some people hoped. Fortunately, Bill Gates hired VAX/VMS main architect Dave Cutler in 1988, who brought many of his team from DEC, 20+ as reported, as part of the hiring agreement of Dave Cutler.

Dave Cutler and his team developed Windows NT, New Technology – a 64bit OS, and the rest is history. He has his hands on RedDot, which be came Microsoft Azure.

Dr. Mark Russinovich, received his doctorate in 1989 from Carnegie Mellon, developed a very popular Windows utility suite called ‘SysInternals’ with his partner. This was a godsend for all Windows Systems Engineers, a Swiss Army Knife, if you will. He also had a short stint at IBM, he also wrote a series of articles comparing Windows NT with VMS?? in Windows Internals magazine. Microsoft eventually acquired the SysInternals, Mark included. Mark is now CTO of Microsoft Azure.

He earned the nickname Pauk Si at SPHS (St. Paul’s High School). His father had lent money to a Pauk Si vendor, but the vendor could not pay back the loan. So, at break time, he would go to claim one Pauk Si (or more depending on his appetite).

Since there were two Hla Min, he was called CO (Chief Operator).

He is an Alumni of SPHS, RIT and UCC.

He matriculated in 1964 along with Ko Aung Myint and Ko Maung Maung Gyi (GBNF).

He received his B.E. (EP) in 1970.

He volunteered for the UCC Project, and later joined UCC as CO.

Under the UCC program, he studied for a year in UK and also found his soul mate (Ma Tin Win), who was undergoing “advanced” nursing training.

CO was afraid of getting hospitalized.

CO was healthy. He would rarely wear the “coat/jacket” that is mandated for those working in the “air conditioned” Computer Room. He would often wear a sports shirt.

So, it was a surprise to learn that CO, after returning from spending as a temporary monk at Taung Pu Lu monastery, fell ill. He was admitted to RGH (Rangoon General Hospital) where Dr. Min Lwin (Maurice Hla Kyi, 5th in Burma in 1964, Roll Number Two at IM(2), cousin of “Lake” Win Maung) examined and found out that his friend had a serious problem.

CO’s voice had lost intensity during his stay in the hospital. He told us to be good towards the sayas, colleagues, friends and family members. We sensed that it was his farewell message. Sad to say, he passed away in his mid-thirties. He did not drink or smoke, but he ate (may be a little bit indiscriminately). He presumably had Hepatitis and later “cirrhosis”.

Some people were not aware that there were two Hla Min who attended SPHS & RIT & worked at UCC. They both have spouses from the medical profession.

So it was not surprising when two government departments where I had given guest lectures inquired UCC where and when they could send wreaths (Lwan Thu Pann Khwe) for me.

A representative from the first department said, “It is said that people laugh a lot before they die. U Hla Min was telling us jokes.”

A person from the second department said, “U Hla Min looked frail and unsteady when he walks. No wonder he passed away.”

To top it all, Ko Moe Hein (Ajala, ChE69) stared at me like a ghost at the Kyandaw Cemetery. He was RIT Selected for Swimming and Water Polo. He had a loud voice that can drown the voices of ten or so “normal” people. So he became the de facto “Cheer Leader” for the RIT Sports Teams. He was working at HI (Heavy Industries). At Kyan Daw Cemetery, he came down from a bus. When he saw me, he appeared “staring at a ghost”. He explained, “Your brother seemed so calm when we learned that you had passed away. So I look a day off to give you last respects thinking that ‘If your brother does not care about you, there will not be many people at last journey’”.

That’s how I became a TONE KYAW.

CO was partly responsible for the UCC staff members visiting Kaba Aye Sun Lun Gu Kyaung and then later participating in the Thingyan Su Paung Yahan Khan Pwes.

He and Saya U Soe Paing were temporary monks at the monastery where U Wara (Win Paing, ChE70, younger brother of Saya Paing, GBNF) was Taik Oak Sayadaw.

Ko Soe Myint (M72, GBNF) and his family (parents, asiblings, …) are devotees.

I visited CO and Saya Paing and later became a devotee.

CO, we miss you.

We remember you saying, “Sayas and colleagues will realize my values when I am gone.”

RIP, my dear friend and name sake.

With metta,

Hla Min

Comments

My best recollection of CO is as follows.

After we started working there, we hanged around the beautiful & attractive ladies in the machine room, like bee to the honey. CO didn’t like us there and issued a verbal warning not to talk to the ladies there, he’s the king/chief of the machine room, unless it’s work related.

He got really mad when we removed the covers of some of the machines there, pretending we were working on fixing those, while having good chitchat with the ladies there.

Some of them are now GBNF, several are still kicking, I mean alive and well. Those were the days, we really miss those old days.

Heartfelt love and thanks to those who had nothing but forgiveness to many of our shenanigans there.

And of course, we all miss our CO.

In order of raw marks :

Cherry Hlaing (St. John’s Convent) and Lyn Aung Thet (Methodist English High School)
Has same total marks.
Using the ILA system, Cherry was admitted as Roll Number One to IM(1).

Aung Win Chiong (SPHS)
Based on ILA, he was admitted as Roll Number One to IM(2).

Indian lady
Probably moved overseas

Min Lwin (SPHS)
Based o ILA, he was admitted as Roll Number Two to IM(2).

• Was a Golf Champion.
• Became a monk after taking the final examination for Chemical Engineering in 1970.
• Served as Taik Oke Sayadaw for nearly four decades.
• Succeeded Sayadaw U Vinaya as Chief Resident Monk of Kaba Aye Sunlun Gu Kyaung
  and Patron of several Sunlun Kyaung (Maymyo, Mogok, Kyauk Padaung).
• Passed away a few years back

• UCC was founded in 1971 with Saya Chit (Dr. Chit Swe, GBNF) as Director, Saya Paing (U Soe Paing) as Systems Manager, Saya Myo (U Myo Min) as Applications Manager, and Saya Lay (U Ko Ko Lay, GBNF) as Operations Manager.
  
• The UCC Project was started by Saya Chit (then Head of Mathematics Department at the Institute of Economics) with the help of Saya Paing (then Assistant Lecturer of Electrical Engineering at the Rangoon Institute of Technology) and several others.
  
• It took a long time before the UCC Project was approved by UNDP.
  UNDP was the Funding Agency.
  UNESCO was assigned as the Executing Agency.
  
• ICL won the contract to provide ICL 1902S Computer System, Software, Training and Support.
  
• Dr. Harry D Huskey (UCSC) won the sub-contract for offering expertise in Academics & Research for UCC.

• The early days of Computing in Burma/Myanmar has been presented in several articles in Burmese and English by Saya Paing including “Computer ah sa UCC ga”.
• Saya U Aung Zaw (GBNF) has also recorded his memories about UCC in his book “Ba Wa and Dhamma”.
• ICST/UCSY published a commemorative magazine for the 30th Anniversary of UCC.

The following are the early departments and sub-departments at UCC.

• For holding meetings with Board of Directors and Advisors.
• Also provided service for the Experts)

• Superintendent (U Myint Aung)
• UDC (Upper Division Clerks)
• LDC (Lower Division Clerks)
• Peons
• Secretaries (for preparing reports and teaching materials)
• Security Personnel
• Maintenance Personnel
• Drivers
• …

• Manager (Saya U Soe Paing)
• Engineers (U Tun Aung Gyaw, U Hla Min, U Soe Win)
• Maintenance technicians (U Aung Myint, U Ngwe Soe, U Myint Soe, U Khin Zaw …)
• System Programmers (U Aung Zaw, U Maung Maung Htay, U Than Lwin, Rafiul Ahad, U Soe Myint …)
• System Librarian (U Hla Aung …)
• Trainees and/or Volunteers

• In the beginning Saya U Myo Min managed all application programmers.
• After the reorganization, Saya U Myo Min managed the business applications.and Saya U Ko Ko Lay managed the scientific & engineering applications

• Application Programmers include U Mya Thein (Bo Shoke, GBNF), U Thein Oo, U Tun Shwe, U Htin Kyaw, U Soe Than, U Kyaw Nyein, U Boe Ba Shan, U Myint Oo, U Sein Myint Maung, U Win Myint, U Soe Thein (GBNF), U Aung Hlaing, Daw Tin May Lwin, Daw Nwe Nwe Win, Daw Nge Ma Ma Than (GBNF), …

• In the beginning Saya U Ko Ko Lay managed the Operations Division.
• After the reorganization, Saya U Soe Paing managed the Operations Division and Systems Division.
  
• Chief Operator (CO U Hla Min / Pauk Si)
• Computer Operators (3 for each shift)
• Shift Leaders (U Maung Maung Gyi (GBNF), U Win Hlaing, U Kyaw Zwar, U Soe Myint (GBNF) …)
• Operators for card punch, manual punches, punched card verifier, sorter …
• Job Controllers

• The Morning Shift is run for staff, students and general users.
• The Evening and Night Shifts were run for selected user departments.
  The Population Census Data Project had a high priority.

• Kudos to the many unsung heroes who volunteered for gratis or for a per diem of Three Kyats and Fifteen Pyas.
• Several DAC and M.Sc. students volunteered
• Without them, the introduction of Computer Technology would not have been smooth and successful.

Dr. F Ba Hli (GBNF)

Saya Dr F Ba Hli (GBNF) received Sc.D. (Doctor of Science) from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). At MIT, Saya helped “fresh” scholars including Saya Dr. Aung Gyi and Saya U Min Wun acclimatize with the environment and studies.

Saya served as DG (Director General) of UBARI (Union of Burma Applied Research Institute) and Advisor for the Ministry of National Planning. Saya was a supporter of UCC Project and served as a member of the Board of Directors and as an External Examiner for the Computer Science graduates.

Daw Myint Thwe (Saya’s spouse) is the sister of Saya U Tin U (C), Saya U Ba Than (M), Dr. Myo Tint, U Tin Htoon (A60), Saya U Myo Min (UCC) and U Thaung Lwin (EC66).

Saya’s children Daw Tin Tin Hlaing and U Tha Hlaing (EC83) are UCC Alumni. U Htay Aung (EC80, spouse of Daw Tin Tin Hlaing and nephew of Saya U Sein Hlaing) and team “programmed” a PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory) to print Burmese characters on the Cromemco System Three micro-computer. He worked on Burmese Word Processing for Wang Computers. He migrated to Australia. For the past few years, U Htay Aung came back to Yangon to volunteer as an interpreter for the “10-day Mediation Retreat for Foreign Yogis” at the Mahasi Sasana Yeik Tha.

During my visit to Sydney in 2006, Saya U Aung Zaw hosted a UCC reunion and mini-PZP (Pu Zaw Pwe) for Saya F Ba Hli and Saya Chit.

U Sein Win (GBNF)

Saya U Sein Win (GBNF) is the younger brother of Dr. Tin U (Medical Superintendent, Rangoon Children’s Hospital) and Dr. Saw Lwin.

Saya served as Technical Advisor for UCC. Saya worked closely with U Win Htein (Purdue University, EE at PWD, GBNF) for the design and maintenance of the Electrical Systems (including Motor Alternator, Diesel Generator, Air conditioning) at UCC.

Saya was a top student at the University of Michigan. His friends jokingly called him “Khone Swa Khone Swa” referring to his brisk walking style.

Saya served as Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering. When the EE Department was formally reorganized into EC (Electrical Communications, also known as EcE and Electronics Engineering) and EP (Electrical Power), Saya U Sein Win served as Professor of EP. Saya Dr. San Tint served as Professor of EC.

Grapevine says that Saya is an absent minded Professor. Saya married late. One day, Saya drove Sayagadaw to Bogyoke Market. He taught (or discussed with) his students for quite some time and almost forgot to pick up Sayagadaw. There are variations on this anecdote regarding the place (e.g. Hledan Zay).

Saya served as Line Judge at the RUBC (Rangoon University Boat Club) Regattas. Saya managed the RIT Swimming and Water Polo team.

Saya stays fit by swimming regularly (even when he was visiting Singapore on a business trip).

Saya has a vast knowledge. Saya Dr. San Hla Aung (C58) remembers Saya U Sein Win discussing about Civil Engineering and other subjects.

U Win Htein (GBNF)

U Win Htein matriculated from SPHS in 1956 with Saya U Soe Paing and Saya U Ko Ko Lay.

They were selected as State Scholars to study in the USA. U Win Htein studied at Purdue University. Saya Paing and Saya Lay studied at Stanford University.

Upon his return, he joined PWD.

He was EE during our UCC days.

For the UCC project, U Win Htein and his team maintained the Electrical Systems (including Motor Alternator, Diesel Generator, Air conditioning) at UCC.

U Win Htein is the elder brother of U Myo Myint (EC67) and Daw Myint Myint Thein (Susan, FERD).

Dr. San Tint (GBNF)

Saya Dr. San Tint (GBNF) graduated in 1961 and joined the EE (Electrical Engineering) Department at RIT. He later served as Professor of EC (Electrical Communications AKA Electronics Engineering).

Saya served as External Examiner at UCC.

He played on the RIT Saya Soccer team with U Soe Paing (EE), Dr. Tin Win (M), Dr. Aung Soe (C), U Aung Soe (Maths), U Tin Maung Nyunt (M) and Des Rodgers (English).

Saya suffered stroke and his right hand was paralyzed. He practiced writing with his left hand hoping that he will recover and continue teaching.

Saya spent four decades teaching and passing the torch to the younger generation.

His nephew U Hlaing Myint (UCC) was with Saya in Saya’s final days.

U Myint Sein (GBNF) is my childhood friend. He became the Principal at BARB (Burmese Astro Research Bureau). He asked me if I can help him to speed up some Veda processes (e.g. generation of a Natal Horoscope).

I assigned two students Ko Win Latt and Ko Zaw Tun and supervised them for the Veda projects.

Ko Win Latt owned a computer and was also an excellent programmer. Under my supervision and with the guidance of Ko Myint Sein, Ko Win Latt came up with three versions. He named them WinHoro V3, V6 and V9.

V3 produces the “basic” horoscope with Yathi (Rasi), Bawa and Nawin (Navamsa). It is also known as “Tri Cekka Zatar” referring to the three parts. It takes some time (a few minutes to an hour) if done manually.

V6 produces a better horoscope.

V9 produces the best horoscope.

WinHoro was implemented using BASIC (an interpretive language).

BASIC (Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) was designed by Professors Kemeny & Kurtz for use with the Dartmouth College Time Sharing System (CSS).

Bill Gates and Paul Allen implemented “Tiny BASIC” for the MITS Altair. They co-founded Microsoft.

BASICA, GWBASIC and variants became a popular language for microcomputers and PCs.

One needs expert knowledge to “interpret” a Zartar. Ko Zaw Tun used Prolog (language for Logic Programming) to implement the Bedin Rules. He tested his program with several sets of data. He was surprised when his program said that “the Two Year Old is a rich person (possibly a Millionaire)”. He thought that there must be a bug. It turned out that the Two Year Old is a grand son of a wealthy Sawbwa, who decided that his grand son should inherit his wealth.

Sad to note that my good friend Ko Myint Sein is now GBNF. It was good news and bad news for his son, who was back in Yangon to take examination for Master Mariner. He was present at Ko Myint Sein’s last journey.

0 comments

U Myint Sein (GBNF) is my childhood friend. He became the Principal at BARB (Burmese Astro Research Bureau). He asked me if I can help him to speed up some Veda processes (e.g. generation of a Natal Horoscope).

I assigned two students Ko Win Latt and Ko Zaw Tun and supervised them for the Veda projects.

Ko Win Latt owned a computer and was also an excellent programmer. Under my supervision and with the guidance of Ko Myint Sein, Ko Win Latt came up with three versions. He named them WinHoro V3, V6 and V9.

V3 produces the “basic” horoscope with Yathi (Rasi), Bawa and Nawin (Navamsa). It is also known as “Tri Cekka Zatar” referring to the three parts. It takes some time (a few minutes to an hour) if done manually.

V6 produces a better horoscope.

V9 produces the best horoscope.

WinHoro was implemented using BASIC (an interpretive language).

BASIC (Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) was designed by Professors Kemeny & Kurtz for use with the Dartmouth College Time Sharing System (CSS).

Bill Gates and Paul Allen implemented “Tiny BASIC” for the MITS Altair. They co-founded Microsoft.

BASICA, GWBASIC and variants became a popular language for microcomputers and PCs.

One needs expert knowledge to “interpret” a Zartar. Ko Zaw Tun used Prolog (language for Logic Programming) to implement the Bedin Rules. He tested his program with several sets of data. He was surprised when his program said that “the Two Year Old is a rich person (possibly a Millionaire)”. He thought that there must be a bug. It turned out that the Two Year Old is a grand son of a wealthy Sawbwa, who decided that his grand son should inherit his wealth.

Sad to note that my good friend Ko Myint Sein is now GBNF. It was good news and bad news for his son, who was back in Yangon to take examination for Master Mariner. He was present at Ko Myint Sein’s last journey.

To help speed up the computerization in Burma, Saya Dr. Chit Swe (Founder / Director) mandated the “training & knowledge transfer” component in the UCC project.

• The component was awarded to Professor Harry D. Huskey (Past ACM President), who taught at University of California Berkeley (UCB) and University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC).
• Dr, Huskey is a computer pioneer, ACM (Association of Computing Machinery) Fellow, and CHM (Computer History Museum) Fellow.
• Dr. Huskey persuaded several top Computer Scientists and Educators to transfer their knowledge and expertise.

Experts for UCC Project

The following is a partial list of the experts provided by Dr. Huskey.

• Professor Anthony Ralston (SUNY Buffalo & Past President of ACM)
  Structured Programming
• Professor Peter Wegner (Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island)
  Programming Languages, Compilers
• Dr. Malcolm P. Atkinson (Cambridge University Mathematics & Computer Lab)
  Supervised M.Sc. (Computer Science) students
• Professor Foreman Acton
  Numerical Methods, Author of “Algorithms that [almost] work”
• Professor Michael Stonebraker (UC Berkeley)
  Ingres (early Relational Data Base Management System)

RDBMS

• At UCB, Michael Stonebraker, Eugene Wong and Gerald Held designed and implemented INGRES (Relational Database Management System).
  They went on to found INGRES and several other DB companies (e.g. Postgres).
• Stonebraker won the prestigious ACM Turing Award (“Nobel Prize” for Computer Professionals) a few years ago.

• Dr. Htay Lwin Nyo, Sai Aung Thurein, Ko Kyaw Zwar Than, Ko Sein Myint, … implemented projects (based on INGRES and other Databases) on ICL under the supervision of Saya Paing and several other sayas.

Feedback

KMZ wrote :

In my line of work, prior to my retirement, Knowledge Transfer is one of the several criteria for the success of the Organization/Company. The others are “Documentation” and some mechanism to transfer/document “Tribal Knowledge”.

It was a major challenge for all of us, it was, and still is, a thankless catch up process in the very fast changing Internet. When someone from the management and/or product wanted some new features, the timeline always was ‘yesterday’. They almost always wanted it done ‘yesterday’ as we jokingly called it.

There are innumerable projects/processes we spent so much time could get shelved due to whatever reasons. Documentation and Knowledge Transfer became after thought. And when the key people moved on to other projects it became a nightmare for people who took over.

KMZ added :

There was a story told by Dr. Stonebraker where he learnt of the amazement on our faces when we saw his gigantic shoe. It was about the tough drill sergeant Stone and a small recruit called Stonebraker at the boot-camp. Since I was not a good story teller, I googled/binged Internet but none came up yet.

I believe Rafiul went to work for Stonebraker at Ingres when he moved to California. Htay Lwin Nyo told me about it when I met him. Ingres was eventually sold to CA, Computer Associates.

Editor’s Note :

One of my early assignments was to work with developers from Fujitsu and some subsidiaries, Computer Associates and some subsidiaries (including Ingres).

Some in the following photos are GBNF.

Gathering hosted by Dr. Rafiul Ahad in 2017

• Rafiul studied at UCC, AIT and USC. He taught at the University of Maryland before moving to Silicon Valley. He retired as Vice President of Oracle USA. He was a Commencement Speaker at AIT.
• UCC and RIT alumni attended the welcome party for Saya U Soe Paing (co-founder of UCC).

CPC

• UCC conducted Computer Programming Classes.
• Dr. Tin Maung (GBNF) succeeded Dr. Chit Swe as Director of UCC.
• Teaching staff : U Hla Min, U Win Myint (1), U Win Myint (2), Daw Tin May Lwin, Daw Nge Ma Ma Than (GBNF), Daw Than Than Tint, Daw Thi Thi Aye, Daw Thida Kyi, Daw Thandar Htwe

UCC Group in front of Convocation Hall

• Dress rehearsal for the Convocation
• UCC conducted post-graduate diploma called DAC
• Ko Win Hlaing, Ko Henry Maung Maung (GBNF), Ma Kyu Kyu Lwin (GBNF), Ma Khin Si Thaung, Ma Khin Khin Win, Ma Phyu Phyu Win, Ma Win May Thaung (GBNF), Ma Tin Tin Yee, Ma Hla Win (GBNF), Ko Aung Myint (GBNF), Ko Soe Myint (GBNF)
• Their Departments : UCC, Census / CSO, Social Security Board, Five Star Line

UCC Old Timers

• Ko Maung Maung Gyi (GBNF)
• Ko Than Tun
• xx
• Ko Thet Lwin
• Ko Khin Maung Zaw
• Ko Myint Swe
• Ko Myint Oo
• Ko Ngwe Soe
• Ko Aung Myint (GBNF)