Induction: February 2014![](/resources/Hall%20of%20Fame/John%20Black%202.jpg)
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John Black, Craig MacKenna, and Cecil Kaplinsky developed the first draft of the VMEbus specification. John spent the first 13 years of his career in the rapidly emerging microcomputer industry, as a Motorola hardware/software engineer, project engineer, and engineering department manager.
During that time he also helped author the VMEbus specification, which was eventually adopted as an IEEE, ANSI, and ISO standard, and currently serves as the primary multiprocessing backplane architecture for the U.S. Military and NATO. A VMEbus-based system also serves as the heart of the Mars Rovers Opportunity and Spirit.
In 1985 John left Motorola to found his own company (Micrology pbt, Inc) to work with start-up companies seeking to offer leading edge embedded multiprocessing computer systems, based on the VMEbus standard.
At the same time he and two partners launched a technical publishing company (OpenSystems Publishing) to promote the development of open standards, and to assist start-up companies in introducing products based on those standards. In addition to his partner responsibilities, John served as Editor-In-Chief of VMEbus Systems magazine and Real-time Engineering magazine. OpenSystems Publishing (now called OpenSystems Media) is currently a leading publisher of embedded computing industry journals.
In 2003 John joined Arizona State University as a Research Scientist, to help launch the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing and the iCARE project, which conducts research aimed at the development of assistive technologies for people who are blind.
In 2010 John mentored a team of students who won first prize in the 2010 Microsoft World Imagine Cup Competition, and in 2011 he mentored another team of students who won second prize in the competition.
Key Contributions
- John Black, along with Craig MacKenna and Cecil Kaplinsky, developed the first draft of the VMEbus specification
- Started his own company, Micrology pbt, Inc to work with start-up companies seeking to offer embedded multiprocessing computer systems based on the VMEbus standard
- Helped launch OpenSystems Publishing (now called OpenSystems Media), which publishes VITA Technologies magazine and other embedded technology magazines