Milestone-Proposal talk:MARS-1

Advocates’ Checklist

1. Is proposal for an achievement rather than for a person? If the citation includes a person's name, have the proposers provided the required justification for inclusion of the person's name?
2. Was proposed achievement a significant advance rather than an incremental improvement to an existing technology?
3. Were there prior or contemporary achievements of a similar nature?
4. Has the achievement truly led to a functioning, useful, or marketable technology?
5. Is proposal adequately supported by significant references (minimum of five) such as patents, contemporary newspaper articles, journal articles, or citations to pages in scholarly books? At least one of the references from a peer-reviewed scholarly book or journal article. The full text of the material, not just the references, shall be present. If the supporting texts are copyright-encumbered and cannot be posted on the ETHW for intellectual property reasons, the proposers shall email a copy to the History Center so that it can be forwarded to the advocate. If the advocate does not consider the supporting references sufficient, the advocate may ask the proposer(s) for additional ones.
6. Are the scholarly references sufficiently recent?
7. Is proposed citation readable and understandable by the general public?
8. Does the proposed plaque site fulfill the requirements?
9. Is the proposal quality comparable to that of IEEE publications?
10. Scientific and technical units correct? (e.g. km, mm, hertz, etc.) Are acronyms correct and properly upperercased or lowercased?
11. Date formats correct as specified in Section 6 of Milestones Program Guidelines? https://ieeemilestones.ethw.org/Helpful_Hints_on_Citations,_Plaque_Locations

Reviewers’ Checklist

1. Is suggested wording of the Plaque Citation accurate?
2. Is evidence presented in the proposal of sufficient substance and accuracy to support the Plaque Citation?
3. Does proposed milestone represent a significant technical achievement?
4. Were there similar or competing achievements? If so, have the proposers adequately described these and their relationship to the achievement being proposed?

Review by Expert 1 Dr Joseph Preece (Research Fellow in Rail Electronic, Electrical & Systems Engineering, University of Birmingham) inserted by the advocate -- JaninA (talk) 10:52, 30 April 2024 (UTC)

From: Joseph Preece <j.d.preece@bham.ac.uk> Date: Thursday, 4 April 2024 at 23:58 To: Janina Mazierska <janina.mazierska@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Kind reminder: Invitation to review an IEEE Milestone nomination 2022-16 "The World’s First On-Line Real-Time Train Seat Reservation System, 1960"

Hello Janina,

Apologies for the delay. Here is my review, in response to the questions asked:

The wording is written in clear English. However, it does not showcase the significant achievement of MARS-1, which is that it was the first reservation system of its kind for the railways. It would benefit to include this. The references provide a clear timeline of MARS. If possible, it would be beneficial to see references on the comparison to other systems, to prove it's claim as the first. However, this is not a necessity. Yes. It was the first of its kind for a railway seat reservation system and was a large improvement over similar systems to bring the processing time down to deal with a larger number of tickets. The legacy of MARS remains to this day, as versions of the system are still in use. The proposal discusses its similarities with the American Airlines approach. However, it goes into ample details of how these systems different, specifically the hardware differences that enabled MARS to process a greater number of reservations. Regarding similar awards, MARS has already been awarded a plaque from the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. I hope this review is of use. Please don't hesitate to contact me should you need me to clarify anything!

Kind regards, Joe

Expert review by Expert 1 Dr Preece continuation inserted by the advocate -- JaninA (talk) 10:55, 30 April 2024 (UTC)

On Wed, 17 Apr 2024, 01:46 Joseph Preece, <j.d.preece@bham.ac.uk> wrote: Hi Janina, The MARS-1 system is a worthy candidate for the IEEE Milestone Award. Upon its creation, it represented a significant leap forward in seat reservation systems compared with similar attempts, integrating meticulous hardware design with the system requirements, showcasing a due level of skill and deliberation. Its lasting legacy is evident in the iterative and subsequent systems used in Japan, which still bear the name of the original. With such enduring impact and influence, I recommend MARS-1 for this award. Dr Joe Preece, University of Birmingham

Review by Expert 2 Mr David Sarfatti (Senior Passenger Advisor, UIC: Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer) inserted by the advocate -- JaninA (talk) 11:02, 30 April 2024 (UTC)

From: SARFATTI David <SARFATTI@uic.org> Date: Tuesday, 9 April 2024 at 21:47 To: Janina Mazierska <janina.mazierska@gmail.com> Subject: RE: kind reminder: Invitation to review an IEEE Milestone nomination 2022-16 "The World’s First On-Line Real-Time Train Seat Reservation System, 1960"

Dear Mrs Mazierska, I am very sorry for my late answer. I thank you very much to consider my expertise on Rail Distribution systems. He re below my answers:

1. Is the suggested wording of the Plaque Citation accurate? Yes. 2. Is the evidence presented in the proposal of sufficient substance and accuracy to support the Citation? Yes, as explained JNR succeeded to enhance an American computer to be the first to automate the rail distribution. 3. Does the proposed milestone represent a significant technical achievement? Yes. As explained the real time automation of complex rail seat reservation distribution is an significant achievement. It allowed the easy and smooth distribution of less complex real time products as concert and sports ticket distribution. 4. Were there similar or competing achievements? If so, have the proposers adequately described these and their relationship to the achievement being proposed? In the eighties Deutsche Bahn followed by SNCF implemented their own Ticketing systems. Seat Reservation and yielded prices were then possible, still based on an American computer TPF bought from SABRE and enhanced. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrate_(SNCF) . I should send you, as soon as received it, a DB presentation on their historic first ever European Distribution system called EPA.

Kind regards, David

David SARFATTI Senior Advisor Passenger Department

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