The machine was the size and shape of a refrigerator, about four feet high (roughly 1.20 meters), with a hinged lid for access.
Shortly after completing the prototype design, Cray left to join Control Data Corporation.
When the Navy awarded Sperry Rand a US$50 million contract to build the AN/USQ-17, Univac engineers redesigned the entire machine from scratch using silicon transistors.
They retained the instruction set, so that programs developed for the original machine would still run on the new one.
[2] As part of the redesign it was decided to improve access, and the second version was designed to stand upright, like an old fashioned double-door refrigerator, about six feet tall (roughly 1.80 m).