Engineering Research Associates' (ERA) origins can be traced to World War II and a classified Navy unit called Communications Supplementary Activity - Washington (CSAW). This project involved a group of mathematicians, cryptologists, engineers, and physicists who were attempting to break the Axis codes, intercepting high-frequency radio transmissions, and pinpointing the movements of enemy ships. In early 1943 CSAW began investigating electronic solutions to these cryptologic problems. This work was coordinated by Commander Howard T. Engstrom and Lt. Commander William C. Norris. At the end of the War the Navy encouraged Norris and Engstrom to continue working for the government as civil servants. However, Norris and Engstrom chose to establish their own company which was named Engineering Research Associates.
The company soon negotiated contracts with the Office of Naval Research and Bureau of Ships. In 1950 it delivered the Atlas Computer to the Navy. However, two years later financial reverses forced ERA to merge with Remington Rand, inc. This merger was a somewhat problematical venture and in 1957 William Norris and many of ERA's most talented engineers left Remington Rand to form the Control Data Corporation.
From the description of Records, 1949-1965. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122516058
