Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems

Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) was an American electronics company founded in Albuquerque, New Mexico that began manufacturing electronic calculators in 1971 and personal computers in 1975.Ed Roberts and Forrest Mims founded MITS in December 1969 to produce miniaturized telemetry modules for model rockets such as a roll rate sensor. In 1971, Roberts redirected the company into the electronic calculator market and the MITS 816 desktop calculator kit was featured on the November 1971 cover of Popular Electronics. The calculators were very successful and sales topped one million dollars in 1973. A brutal calculator price war left the company deeply in debt by 1974.

Roberts then developed the first commercially successful home computer, the Altair 8800 which was featured on the January 1975 cover of Popular Electronics. Hobbyists flooded MITS with orders for the $397 computer kit. Paul Allen and Bill Gates saw the magazine and began writing software for the Altair computer called the Altair BASIC. They moved to Albuquerque to work for MITS and in July 1975 started Microsoft - originally named "Micro-Soft" by Paul Allen as recounted in this 1995 Fortune magazine article. MITS's annual sales had reached $6 million by 1977 when they were acquired by Pertec Computer. The operations were soon merged into the larger company and the MITS brand disappeared. Roberts retired to Georgia where he studied medicine and became a small town medical doctor.

MITS

MITS is an abbreviation for several things:

Museum Institute for Teaching Science

The Museum Institute for Teaching Science (MITS), based in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA, and founded in 1983, provides resources and professional development to informal and formal teachers of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

In partnership with educators at science and natural history museums, MITS initiates and facilitates innovative STEM professional development programs for formal and informal educators. MITS provides SeaPerch Workshops, Customized School Services, a Professional Development Seminar Series (PDS), and annual Summer Professional Development Institutes, with an aim of providing STEM professional development that teachers can use as a model for their classroom activities and curriculum.

MITS' Summer Professional Development Institutes are their cornerstone program, available as either hybrid or on-site courses for grades 3-8 or middle and high school educators. These courses are held in regions across Massachusetts and participants are able to earn Professional Development Points (PDPs) and/or graduate credit from participating institutions.