This oral history was conducted for the museum’s Computer Storage program to capture Don Mattson’s experiences in manufacturing and producing magnetic computer tape, but he turned out to be a serial entrepreneur with a particularly interesting experience in CT scanning that arose from the 9/11 tragedy.
Don Mattson entered the magnetic tape field almost by accident: after chemistry studies at Berkeley, an Army stint in Italy, and an MBA, he joined vacuum-tube maker Eitel-McCullough, where he learned ceramics, metalizing, and improvised early clean-room techniques. In 1969 he moved to Memorex, first briefly in disk pack production and then as production manager of the tape plant, where he describes in detail the full 1961-vintage tape process he inherited — coating dispersion in vibratory "ball" mills, reverse-roll coating, particle alignment, drying, calendaring, and slitting — and the environmental, safety, and process-control challenges of running it. In 1972, as head of Memorex’s Disk Pack division, he led it through the transition from disk packs to Winchester data modules – "Data Mark" in Memorex terms, building an organization he recalls as unusually generative of future Silicon Valley executives.
He went on to run manufacturing at Verbatim (floppy disks, including a new plant in Limerick, Ireland), then founded his own thin-film disk company, later sold to Storage Technology; led production at an optical-disk startup; consulted through PRTM, including standing up Quantum’s DLT tape-drive line in a former Cray Computer facility.
He served as COO of InVision Technologies, whose explosives-detection CT scanners went from low-volume R&D to round-the-clock production in the aftermath of September 11, culminating in the company’s sale to General Electric.
Though recruited for his tape manufacturing expertise, Mattson’s account traces a much broader arc — vacuum tubes, tape, disk, floppy media, optical storage, tape drives, and aviation security — that reflects a recurring Silicon Valley pattern of engineers and managers moving between companies, founding new ventures, and repeatedly rebuilding production organizations from scratch.
Interviewed by Tom Gardner on 2023-06-23
© Computer History Museum
Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information – http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/300000413
Catalog number: 300000414
Acquisition number: 2026.0232
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