That is fascinating to me - I remember reading somewhere an article about the (SmallTalk-based???) sound processing they had, where (back in the 80s even) you could graphically manipulate the sounds on screen, on what at the time must have been fantastically expensive hardware.
Yes, some of the digital sound equipment used today in the film industry was developed for the Lucasfilm sound designers by the technical support team in the 1980's. Today, Skywalker Sound has one of the most amazing and up-to-date recording and post-production facilities anywhere--and Sywalker Ranch is still the place to work for many entertainment industry folk.