Last Updated 09-JAN-2024
I placed this on the web because in searching for Cademic, Inc., I discovered that except for a few lines in some resumes not much exists on Cademic, Inc.
Cademic was a start-up venture specializing in computer assisted design of VLSI ICs I started in FEB 1984 but I believe that the company started in 1982 or 1983.
Cademic created an implementation of a portable Computer-Aided Design system for Very Large Scale Integrated Circuits (VLSI at the time). This system consisted of a graphical editor, logic and timing simulators, an optimizing silicon compiler and ancillary software tools. All of the software was implemented in C on a UNIX time-sharing system. The software for the design phase was transported to a microcomputer running CP/M-68k. The silicon compiler produced both nMOS and CMOS logic circuits.
Cademic had a leased Digital Equipment Corp (DEC) VAX 11-750 system and I was the system administrator for a period of time.
I started out as a Electronic Technician 1 making a whopping $15,300.00 a year. (I put more that that into my 401K now) but the $$ was good.
It was a fun place to work but very dysfunctional. After 6 months or so I knew that the company was doomed and verification came in DEC 1984 when I came in to work and discovered that the IRS had sealed and seized the company. Later I found that this was probably planned from the start as the owners and some of the major investors had done this sort of thing before.
But, I had fun in Arizona and met some nice people. And except for my family loosing $2500 in stock that we had bought (Yup, looking back that was stupid) it was a learning experience.
If someone is interested I scanned some of the manuals and can provide them if requested.
Newspaper article about Cademic (from the Phoenix Gazette - Wednesday March 28, 1984)
The job add that I responded to
My business card. Very cool for my first "real" job.
Also used this address:
Cademic Inc. P.O. Box 4698 Scottsdale, AZ 85261
Cademic leased the west side second floor in the front area of the Microsemi Building.
Names of the people at Cademic in the fall of 1984:
Julius Adewumi Sherrie Arnhart Frank Ayala Engineering Technician Bob Baryla Software Suzie Bailey Roger Baine Owner of Company. Jeff Blankenship Jack Blessington Ray Bobek Engineer Jean Bollhoefer John Brooks Vivian Cowan Sandy Dailey Marie Doyle Personnel Tony Giallella Lisa Hartly Patrick L. Harvey Software / Hardware and investor Marcy Henderson John Hoffman Alex Johnson Software (Died in 2003) Kathie Johnson Cinty Jorae Larry Lunetta Cheri Maat Shawn Mozafarian Bruce McClain Software Len Perinetti Joe Scott Judy Spencer David Stiefbold Lou Warshawsky Software
MAR 2001
I drove by in the spring of 2001
MAY 1984
The finished workstation which Cademic released a software package specifically for the Dimension 68000. CLYDE (Custom Logic You Design Easily), a software package for VLSI circuit design. It was released by Cademic, Inc. in May 1984
The Dimension 68000 is a microcomputer introduced by the Micro Craft Corporation in 1983 that sought to emulate the Apple II, the IBM PC, and various CP/M-centric computers through a family of coprocessor expansion cards and emulation software. The Dimension 68000 can also run as a standalone computer based on the Motorola 68000 from which it gets its namesake. The computer is mostly the brainchild of Mike Carpenter, a former executive of a scientific instrument manufacturer who incorporated Micro Craft in Dallas, Texas, to develop the Dimension 68000. It had a market lifespan of three years and received mixed, mostly positive, reception from the technology press. Criticism was leveled at the $6,250 price tag for the computer with the full deck of coprocessor cards, as well as the extent of the emulation power of those cards.
The Dimension 68000 I had in my apartment
The VAX 11/750 with a TU-77 tape drive, A RA-60 Disk drive (I think) and a LA-120 console
Looking at the building from the west
The lab area where the IC prototypes were tested.
Office area views. Not much to see
