Illinois' early supercomputer that inspired HAL from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Apr 27, 2015 2:00 pm by etwilson@illinois.eduIllinois in the News Share on Facebook Tweet Email Images Fusion (April 25) - Conceived at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the 50s and 60s, the room-sized behemoth was the most powerful number-crunching machine of its time. Share on Facebook Tweet Email