Choose a topic of your interest, where the topic should not be defined too narrowly. Some examples of acceptable topics are networking, microelectonics, operating systems, databases, programming languages, and compilers. Next identify some pioneering technical contributions in the topic you have chosen, select the one that interests you most, and base your article on it. The article should be about five double-spaced pages, including references. It should follow the guidelines described in the presentation on writing by Kieckhafer & Seth.

Your article should be more than a summary of the paper. As a lot more progress has been made since the contribution, you are in a position to talk about its significance in the context what has taken place. You should know about many of the developments from what you have learned in your courses or from reading on your own. If necessary, consult additional sources

Note: IEEE Annals of the History of Computing might be a good source of information about computer pioneers.