On 17 September, the Impulse Epoch exhibition opened at the Mir Cultural Centre of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. The display is dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Meshcheryakov Laboratory of Information Technologies, called the Laboratory of Computer Engineering and Automation (LCTA) until 2000.
Visitors can get introduced to the original issues of the Impulse wall newspaper published from 1963 to 1988 and reflecting the scientific and social events of the laboratory. As noted by the creators, “thehe vivid literary style, sharp humour, and notes on the events of those years turn Impulse into a real quarter-century chronicle of LCTA”. Impulse traces the history of the laboratory, the Institute, and the advancement of world computer technology. MLIT preserved over 70 issues of its wall newspaper. Unfortunately, there are few copies of similar publications of other JINR laboratories.
Exhibits include photos of employees and computing equipment of the era, as well as artefacts related to the lives of the first LCTA heads: Mikhail Grigoryevich Meshcheryakov and Nikolay Nikolaevich Govorun – personal items, documents, art, anniversary gifts, and biographical books. On a vintage computer installed at the exhibition, visitors can try launching an emulator of the Dubna operating system. The display stands present information both on the laboratory’s history and the overall development of information technologies in the 1960s–1980s. The auditory part provides an opportunity to listen to interviews with Impulse authors, editors, and artists.
In his welcome speech, MLIT JINR Director Sergei Shmatov noted that the exhibition serves as a retrospective of the laboratory. “You can see LCTA’s history not through official publications, but directly through the eyes of those who worked at the laboratory, built its reputation, forged its achievements and discoveries”, Sergei Shmatov stressed. He highlighted that both young employees and veterans worked on the project. The youth keeping the previous generation’s traditions alive is what helps preserve the laboratory’s special atmosphere created by its founders.
Institute’s Chief Scientific Secretary Sergey Nedelko emphasised that the social events held by the Institute in its anniversary year allow visitors – both the witnesses of the era and young researchers – to enjoy the atmosphere of the past. This exhibition demonstrates the long journey of the IT industry and the laboratory, which always was at the forefront of science.
“All my first JINR colleagues and friends were members of our newspaper’s editorial board. I was among those who saw Impulse‘s history with their own eyes. We would look forward to each new issue. The newspaper was famous outside of our laboratory, too”, MLIT JINR Scientific Leader Vladimir Korenkov noted. He highlighted that the opening ceremony took place on 17 September as it is the birthday of a founder of the Joint Institute and LCTA – Mikhail Grigorievich Meshcheryakov.
“The exhibition conveys the passion for life of our laboratory’s employees. The newspaper survived because it was made with love for the people, the laboratory, and everything we do”, MLIT Deputy Scientific Leader Tatiana Strizh, who headed the exhibition project, concluded.
Throughout the years, the Impulse editorial board included many MLIT employees and veterans. Some of them – MLIT veteran Nellia Shirikova, researcher Genis Musulmanbekov, and Department Head Tatiana Sapozhnikova – shared their memories at the opening ceremony. In addition, congratulatory speeches were made by Mikhail Meshcheryakov’s grandson Innokenty Ivanov, Nikolay Govorun’s daughter Tatiana Vabishchevich, Head of the JINR Historical Archive Elena Malaya, and exhibition curators Daria Priakhina and Ekaterina Voytishina.
The speakers expressed gratitude to the exhibition organizers: employees of MLIT at JINR, JINR’s Museum of the History of Science and Technology, the Institute’s Historical Archive, the designers, and everyone who provided assistance in preparing the project for recreating the atmosphere of the era, maintaining connection between generations, and preserving history.
The exhibition will be available until the end of October. It is open every day except Monday, from 13:00 to 19:00. In addition, from 29 September to 28 October, the Museum of the History of Science and Technology will organize six tours of the exhibition, which can be booked here. Admission to all events is free.
