Conrad "Conny" Palm (1907–1951) was a Swedish electrical engineer and statistician, known for several contributions to

teletraffic engineering Teletraffic engineering, telecommunications traffic engineering, or just traffic engineering when in context, is the application of transportation traffic engineering theory to telecommunications. Teletraffic engineers use their knowledge of stat ...

and

queueing theory Queueing theory is the mathematical study of waiting lines, or queues. A queueing model is constructed so that queue lengths and waiting time can be predicted. Queueing theory is generally considered a branch of operations research because the ...

. Rolf B. Haugen
The life and work of Conny Palm – some personal comments and experiences
from ''Telektronikk'' ( Telenor research journal), 2(3):50–55, 1995 Palm enrolled at the School of Electrical Engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm in 1925, being awarded his M.Sc. (1940) and

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(1943) on a dissertation entitled ''Intensitätsschwankungen im Fernsprechverkehr'' (Intensity Fluctuations in Telephone Traffic). Palm's work was also joint with

L. M. Ericsson (lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Sweden, Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in ...

, cooperating with Christian Jacobæus. He attended Harald Cramér's queueing theory group, met

William Feller William "Vilim" Feller (July 7, 1906 – January 14, 1970), born Vilibald Srećko Feller, was a Croatian- American mathematician specializing in probability theory. Early life and education Feller was born in Zagreb to Ida Oemichen-Perc, a Cro ...

(1937). Later, Palm was in the

Swedish Board for Computing Machinery The Swedish Board for Computing Machinery ( sv, Matematikmaskinnämnden, MMN) was a Swedish government agency which built Sweden's first computers: BARK and BESK. A governmental study into the need for computing machinery in Sweden had been conduct ...

(''Matematikmaskinnämnden''), where he led the project that developed the first Swedish computer, the BARK (1947–51), informally referred to as CONIAC (Conny almIntegrator And Calculator). He was adjunct professor in

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

at Royal Institute of Technology as well. Professor Håkan Sterky, who was Palm's thesis advisor, has characterised Palm as a

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

and a brilliant statistician. He had started his research before he graduated, which seemed to be due to a lack of interest for some undergraduate courses rather than the level of difficulty of the courses. To apply pressure on him, it was finally agreed that his monthly salary from

Ericsson (lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in informa ...

would only be paid out if he had passed one of his remaining undergraduate exam that month. Sterky related how Palm would typically show up a few days before pay day wishing to sit for an oral exam.Kongl. Elektrosektionen 1910–1985: ''Storamiralerna hos Sekreteraren – Samtal med Håkan Sterky''
(interview with Håkan Sterky in 1985 on the occasion of the Electrical Engineering Student Association's 75th anniversary), accessed on July 20, 2009

Books

* Book edition of Ph.D. thesis of 1943, translated from German to English by Christian Jacobæus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palm, Conny Swedish electrical engineers Swedish mathematicians Queueing theorists Ericsson people Academic staff of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology alumni 1907 births 1951 deaths Swedish statisticians 20th-century American mathematicians

Books

See also

References