The Bloomberg Terminal revolutionized finance by putting real-time data, analytics, and communication tools at traders’ fingertips. Launched in 1982 by Michael R. Bloomberg, Engr ‘64, the keyboard-heavy device used by investment banks and traders quickly became essential, transforming market analysis, trade execution, and financial decision-making.
Its power lies in its speed, customization, and vast proprietary data across asset classes, as well as the variety of data and functions it integrates. It includes a messaging network for deal-making, financial intelligence, news, economic indicators, regulatory and compliance tools, and more.
Today, the Terminal is a sleek, cloud-based platform accessible on mobile, integrating, AI and machine learning for deeper market insights and–making it one of the most powerful and widely used financial data tools worldwide.
The Bet That Paid Off Big
In 1928, Harry L. Straus, Engr ’17 transformed racetrack betting with his invention, the electric totalizator, or “tote board”—an electromechanical system that could instantly print and issue betting tickets, automatically calculate parimutuel odds, and display real-time updates on a board.
Straus founded the American Totalisator Company in 1932 to manufacture the machines whose unprecedented speed and accuracy soon made them a staple at racetracks worldwide, paving the way for modern large- scale racetrack betting.
Hackers with a Cause
The day after the iPhone’s June 29, 2007 launch, Avi Rubin, computer security expert and professor emeritus of computer science, issued a challenge to researchers at his company, Independent Security Evaluators: Try to hack the device, and he’d buy them all iPhones. His goal? Uncover vulnerabilities and help Apple fix them.
Just two weeks later, they did it—extracting data files and transmitting them to an attacking computer, making them the first to hack the iPhone.
Navigating the Depths
In 2009, Nereus, a completely new type of unmanned deep-sea robot, became the first vessel to successfully reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench, guided by a navigation and control system developed by mechanical engineering professor and roboticist Louis Whitcomb, an international leader using robots to boldly go where none have gone before.
— ABBY LATTES