on june 14, 1915, melville eastham and a small group of investors started general radio company in cambridge, massachusetts, a few blocks northwest of massachusetts institute of technology. during the 1950s, the company moved to west concord, massachusetts, where it became a major player in the automatic test equipment (ate) business, manufacturing a line of testers for assembled printed circuit boards. it also produced extensive lines of electrical component measuring equipment, sound and vibration measurement and rlc standards. in 1975, the company name was changed to genrad.