Shiraz Shivji
Shiraz Shivji | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1947 Tanzania |
| Occupation(s) | Electrical engineer, computer designer |
| Years active | 1980s–2000s |
| Known for | Principal designer of the Atari ST computer, engineering role in the Commodore 64 |
Shiraz Shivji (born 1947 in what is now Tanzania) served as the principal designer of the Atari ST computer for Atari Corporation. This system was developed within a five-month timeframe and launched in 1985. Additionally, Shivji played a significant engineering role in the creation of the Commodore 64.
Biography
Originating from an Indian Ismaili background, Shivji started his professional journey in Silicon Valley at Commodore International, where he contributed to the Commodore 64's development.[1] By the year 1984, he had advanced to become the director of engineering at Commodore.[2][3]
During 1984, Shivji was engaged in a legal conflict concerning the Commodore 900 initiative, having been one of three systems engineers involved since 1983.[4] Commodore filed a lawsuit accusing him of leaking confidential research and disk drive design information while he transitioned to Atari Corporation alongside Jack Tramiel.[5] Ultimately, he and his fellow engineers were cleared of all charges.
Atari Corporation
Following Jack Tramiel’s acquisition of Atari in 1984 during a period of financial difficulty for the company, Shivji proposed an economical yet powerful home computer concept known internally as 'Rock Bottom Price.' This idea was instrumental in revitalizing Atari’s product line. As Vice President of Research and Development, he led a team of six engineers responsible for designing the Atari 520ST computer, completing this ambitious project between July and December 1984. Subsequently, he headed the design efforts for the Atari TT before leaving the company in 1990.
Post-Atari
In 1989, Kamran Elahian invited Shivji to join his startup enterprise, Momenta. There, Shivji was responsible for creating the Momenta Pen Computer—an early example of a pentop device and among the first full-sized tablet computers. Between 2000 and 2007, Shivji secured seven patents related to his technological innovations.
External links
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named:3 - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named:0 - ↑ Lendino, Jamie. Faster Than Light: The Atari ST and the 16-Bit Revolution
- ↑ Bagnall, Brian. On the Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named:2
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1947 births
- 20th-century American engineers
- 20th-century Indian engineers
- Alumni of the University of Southampton
- American electrical engineers
- Atari people
- Commodore people
- Indian Ismailis
- American Ismailis
- Tanzanian Ismailis
- Indian electrical engineers
- Indian emigrants to the United States
- Living people
- Stanford University alumni
- Tanzanian emigrants to the United States
- Tanzanian engineers
- Tanzanian people of Indian descent
- Pages with reference errors