Bil Herd

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Bil Herd (right) and chip designer Dave DiOrio circa 1983.

Bil Herd was a designer of 8-bit home computers while working for Commodore Business Machines in the early-to-mid 1980s. After first designing the Commodore Plus/4, C16/116, C264, and C364 machines, Herd designed the significantly more successful Commodore 128, a dual-CPU, triple-OS, compatible successor to the Commodore 64. Prior to the C128, Herd had done the initial architecture of the Commodore LCD computer, which was not released.

After leaving Commodore, Herd continued to design faster and more powerful computers with emphasis on machine vision and is a co-author on a patent involving n-dimensional pattern matching. Herd also designed an ultrasonic backup sensor for vehicles while working for Indian Valley Mfg. in 1986, a feature found on many modern vehicles today.

Bil Herd (left) Brian Bagnal Author of On the Edge and Bob Russell of VIC20 and C64 (2005)

Herd has undertaken an entrepreneurial role and is owner of several small companies: InterActive Network Systems, Inc, InterActive Design Solutions, Inc and JerseyNet. As for recent low-level computer hacking, he did a "cameo appearance" by contributing a snippet of sprite logic code to the C64 DTV product designed by Jeri Ellsworth.

Commodore Plus/4

Commodore 16

Commodore C128

[edit] Military and community service

Military service:

1977–1980: 238th Cavalry - 38th Division Indiana Army National Guard
1980–1982: 103rd Medical Battalion - 28th Division Pennsylvania Army National Guard
1981: Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service.

Voluntary health care work:

1989–1996: Fellowship First Aid Squad / Mount Laurel EMS Inc. Highest rank: Captain (also served as President)
1991–1995: Cooper Trauma Center - Camden, NJ: Trauma Technician

[edit] References

Bagnall, Brian (2005). On the Edge: the Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore. ISBN 0-9738649-0-7. (Website)
Greenley, Larry, et.al. (1986). Commodore 128 Programmer's Reference Guide. ISBN 0-553-34378-5. (Herd Co-author)