Made @ The Tech The Tech Museum of Innovation | San Jose, CA
Fall 2016
Inside: BioDesign Studio | Greatest Hits @ The Tech | The Tech Awards
Name: Jyoti
Age: 13
#MadeAtTheTech
City: San Jose
The power of optimism Letter from the President At the entrance to The Tech, people are greeted by these words from Bob Noyce, one of the founders of Intel and one of our earliest supporters: “Optimism is an essential ingredient of innovation. How else can the individual welcome change over security, adventure over staying in safe places?� Optimism is central to everything we do at The Tech. We deeply believe in the power of people to solve problems and build better communities. We believe that when people use technology creatively, ethically and boldly, we can step up to the environmental, health, economic and educational challenges we face. Thousands of Bay Area students are beginning a new school year. Are they doing so with an understanding of their power to do great things? We are doing all we can to ensure that when they visit The Tech, they leave with a brighter vision for their lives and for our world. To this end, we are committed to responding to their needs with everimproved programs and exhibits. We are deepening the impact of our field trips, adding more labs, more engineering challenges and more ways to challenge young people to discover their problem-solving power. We’re accelerating our programs for high-quality professional development for teachers. Hundreds of educators spent time over the summer in our Design Challenge Learning Institute, developing new ways to engage students in coding and engineering challenges. They will return to school with renewed hope for helping young people develop the skills they need to succeed in the world. One reason optimism is abundant at The Tech is because it is abundant in Silicon Valley. Our community is full of people who are willing to face failure and hardships in pursuit of better lives. Many have crossed oceans, left families, started businesses and created jobs. They offer bright hope to our country and our world. Our job is to offer bright hope as well, so that we, in partnership with others, can build a community where everyone can succeed in our technology-driven age.
Tim Ritchie President and CEO
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Letter from the Board Chair Letter from a member BioDesign Studio Design challenge: Redesigning breakfast My story: 10 years later, still a place of wonder
Made @ The Tech is produced twice a year for members, supporters and friends of The Tech Museum of Innovation. If you have questions about this publication, contact Amy Pizarro, Senior Director of Media + Community, at apizarro@thetech.org.
201 S. Market Street San Jose, CA 95113 408-294-8324 thetech.org facebook.com/thetechmuseum twitter.com/thetechmuseum instagram.com/thetechmuseum youtube.com/thetechmuseum Editor Amy Pizarro
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StoryCorps @ The Tech The Tech Academies Generation Tech Events @ The Tech Greatest Hits @ The Tech New offering: From Here to There
Contributors Mia Bajic Jennifer Bullock Lauren Cage Chris DiGiorgio Mark Emmons Jeff Gire Marika Krause Rebekah Nelson Christina O’Guinn Katie Ozawa Tim Ritchie Gretchen Walker David Whitman Rachel Wilner Photographers Na’im Beyah Jennifer Bullock Don Feria Matthew Ivan Kevin Meynell Karen Santos
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Volunteering @ The Tech Creative Collisions The Tech Challenge The Tech Awards Contest: The Tech’s true colors Activity: Do try this at home! Social Corner
Leadership Team Tim Ritchie President and CEO Harvard Sung Chief Financial Officer Bill Bailor Vice President, Operations Maria Pappas Vice President, Development Gretchen Walker Vice President, Education Rachel Wilner Vice President, Media + Community Charles Pearson Director, Information Systems
Graphic Designer Krista Thomas Copy Editor Betsy Towner Levine Printer
On the cover: An entry from our Community Day coloring contest. Look on page 30 to see the winners!
Medius Corporation San Jose, CA www.mediuscorp.com Fall 2016 | 3
Letter from the Board Chair Silicon Valley deftly navigates, and often leads, waves of industry: aerospace, silicon and software; the rise of personal computers and the flood of social media. Our region’s most impressive element is the ability to generate innovation and economic development wherever the tidal wave of business and society may lead.
Board of Directors Michael R. Abbott Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Emmanuel Barbara Silicon Valley Education Foundation James J. Barrese
Dan’l Lewin Microsoft R. L. Smith McKeithen Enconcert, Inc. Jami Dover Nachtsheim Intel Corporate (ret.)
Over the course of my career guiding leaders of tech companies, I’ve had a front-row seat to some of the most breathtaking innovation and risk-taking in Silicon Valley. Many factors contribute to the success of our region, but none are more important than the optimism and resilience necessary for innovation.
Ruba Borno Cisco
Even though I spent more than 30 years at the same company, I reinvented myself at least five times. I adapted my skills in advancing tech to different industries. This is life in Silicon Valley. As industries slow, tech leaders reevaluate and redeploy their strategies and tools — and often come out stronger.
Chuck Boynton Sunpower Corporation
Gloria Chen Adobe Systems, Inc.
Frank P. Quattrone Past Board Chair Qatalyst Group
This could not happen without a wonderful combination of highly talented people, risk-tolerant investors and a focus on education from kindergarten through graduate school. Our vision at The Tech is to be part of the fabric of this innovation ecosystem.
Hon. David D. Cortese County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors
Roger J. Quinlan Board Secretary SAP America, Inc.
James C. Deichen Suntrust Robinson Humphrey
A. Peter Relan Crowdstar
The Tech serves teachers who fuel the bright young minds that will lead our tomorrow. With The Tech Academies of Innovation, we’re growing a network of educators who will equip the next generation with problemsolving and engineering skills. Every year, thousands of kids take field trips to The Tech where they realize their own power to innovate. The Tech also challenges the community to grow, with pioneering exhibits like BioDesign Studio and Innovations in Health Care. As you read through this magazine, my hope is you’ll find nuggets that resonate and compel you to help us inspire the next wave of innovation.
Ann S. Bowers Past Board Chair Chris Boyd Kaiser Permanente
Edward G. Cannizzaro Board Treasurer KPMG, LLP
Christopher S. DiGiorgio Board Chair Accenture (ret.) Mauria Finley John Giubileo EMC Corporation Raquel Gonzalez Bank of America William W. Heil Gerald D. Held, Ph.D. The Held Group Dave House Joe Kava Google
Chris DiGiorgio Chair, Board of Directors
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Randy Krenzin, CFP Wells Fargo Advisors
Omkaram (Om) Nalamasu, Ph.D. Applied Materials Don Norling Volunteer Representative Stuart Pann HP Inc. Daniel Perez Oncore Manufacturing Services (ret.)
Tim Ritchie The Tech Museum of Innovation Matthew Sapp Ernst & Young, LLP Archana Sathaye, Ph.D. Sathaye Family Foundation Judy C. Swanson The Swanson Foundation Daniel J. Warmenhoven Board Vice Chair Warmenhoven Holdings, LLC Steve Young HGGC
Letter from a grateful member My son Emmanuel, who is 13 and legally blind, has been going to The Tech since he was very young. His experiences there inspired him to dream up a new idea: an app called EyeMenu that will help visually impaired people access restaurant menus.
Emmanuel’s story was featured in the Spring 2016 issue of Made @ The Tech magazine. Because of that article, Emmanuel was invited to speak at the Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs Festival. Although he is usually shy, Emmanuel stood on stage in a crowded room and talked about EyeMenu. Several days later, he received funding to make his idea a reality. The Tech is more to us than a favorite museum. It’s a living entity that is allowing my son to pursue his dream to help other visually impaired people like himself. Emilie Bard, San Jose
Do you have a story about how The Tech has had an impact on you or someone in your family? We would love to hear it! Please email Amy Pizarro at apizarro@thetech.org.
A must-see, must-do Silicon Valley experience for all ages! Fall 2016 | 5
Calling all biomakers
Exhibit invites visitors to bring DNA to life The pint-sized scientist wears protective glasses, latex gloves and a white lab coat longer than her legs. She intently mixes the contents of two plastic tubes and spreads the mixture onto a petri dish. After putting her project into an incubator, 5-year-old Penelope Rosch places another petri dish of bacteria colonies into a viewer and peeks inside. “Whoa,” Rosch says, her eyes growing wide at the sight of red, blue and green specks of bacteria. “Look at that!” The unique living colors on her dish are then projected on a wall as a kaleidoscope of glowing colors inside The Tech’s new exhibit, BioDesign Studio. Moments later, she’s rushing to join her older sister, Fiona, at the nearby Creature Creation Station. Together they design digital amoeba-like critters that they “release” into a 30-foot-long concave screen and watch swim around. “Both our girls love science, and this is perfect for them,” Deahna Rosch said. “Penelope is a visual learner. So it’s great that these exhibits have things that are constantly changing and colorful.” BioDesign Studio, which opened in March, is a hit. The exhibit allows people of all ages to tinker with biology and gets them thinking about the possibilities when humans innovate with the building blocks of life. Judging by the smiles on kids’ faces as they make bricks out of living mushroom material in the Biotinkering Lab, all we can say is, mission accomplished. “It’s incredibly rewarding to stand back and watch kids interacting with everything,” said Anja Scholze, a biotech experience designer who helped create the exhibit with lead developer Romie Littrell. “It’s so cool to walk around and just listen to 15 different people talking about DNA, mycelium and mushrooms. You can see the impact.” The exhibit sparks imaginations by giving visitors a chance to explore the world’s oldest, most complex technology: biology. They become bioengineers with the 6 | Made @ The Tech
help of self-guided stations that explode with vivid colors, wild patterns and strange shapes. “The exhibit is really visual, and whenever you play with something, you can instantly see the results,” Svetlana Spetzler said while shepherding her three energetic sons, ages 5, 9 and 12, around the museum. “I think that’s important for kids, especially if you have a 5-year-old with a short attention span. At the same time, it’s also not overwhelming.” Scholze has been pleasantly surprised with the depth of curiosity around mycelium, the thready, root-like portion of mushrooms. But the main attraction in the exhibit is the Creature Creation Station. Young scientists create digital organisms, deciding on their color and how they act when they are set free into a virtual world. “I like that everyone’s creature is different,” Fiona Rosch said. “When mine was released, it would come together with other ones, just like I told it to do. It’s just so cool.” In the process, she’s learning fundamental concepts about DNA. “I love overhearing conversations where one child will say, ‘I’m going to make mine blue!’” Scholze said. “And then her friend will say, ‘Well I’m going to make one that eats your blue!’ It becomes a collaborative, group exercise, and they don’t even realize it. They’re just having fun making things with biology. And that’s the whole point.”
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Redesigning breakfast
Challenge cooks up ideas for making mornings merrier What if you could invent something to improve your mornings? Say, a robot that brushes your teeth in bed. Or a flying cup that delivers juice. Maybe a machine that, at the push of a button, sends your breakfast order to mom or dad. These are just a few of the innovative ideas sparked by guests of all ages at The Tech this spring during the Better Breakfast Challenge. Conducted in partnership with the New York Hall of Science, the challenge introduced participants to the design-thinking process. Design thinking is a problemsolving method that fosters innovation through putting big goals first — design a better breakfast — rather than specific problems. Guests brainstormed an invention that could make their breakfast or morning better, then drew their idea. They prototyped the designs using meal-themed materials, 8 | Made @ The Tech
such as cups, plastic flatware and fake breakfast food, garnishing with crafty components like drink umbrellas and plastic eggs. Some guests focused on functionality in their models, engineering devices such as spinning-spoon catapults or arm extensions that pick up drinks. Others used the materials to demonstrate whimsical ideas. A plate represented a solar panel on a sun-powered frying pan, and pipe-cleaners on an alarm clock were designed to wake sleepers up with a tickle. In the final step, guests documented their work by naming their inventions, writing descriptions of how they work and photographing the prototypes. The participants had a blast dreaming up wild new ideas. An exercise in imagination combined with real-world skills, the Better Breakfast Challenge was a wonderful way to help guests see how they can design their world.
10 years later, still a place of wonder Intern shares magic of her favorite childhood destination By Mia Bajic, 2015 intern, The Tech Museum of Innovation
Then (2005)
When my parents asked me where I wanted to have my 9th birthday party, my reply was a no-brainer. I wanted the coolest place I knew: The Tech. Fast-forward to the summer of 2015 when I discovered an internship opening at The Tech. Now a college student, I immediately wanted to be a part of this organization that had thrilled me as a child. I did get the internship, and when I arrived at The Tech, my childhood memories suddenly became fresh again. I walked into the breathtaking IMAX theater, the site of my 2005 party, and I was surprised to see the gigantic room was just as impressive as in my memory. The Earthquake Simulator and Jet Pack Chair waited for me on the Lower Level, just like I remembered. Upstairs, the roller coaster game was still teaching kids important lessons in physics. The Alphabot spelling machine brought back memories of my first time seeing the robot “dog” I played with way back when. I also saw kids who looked just like me back then, their eyes wide with curiosity as they experienced the timeless intrigue of The Tech. When I was a child, exhibits like BioDesign Studio, Body Metrics and Cyber
Now (2015)
Detectives had been inconceivable. Now an intern, I rolled up my sleeves and began to play with inputs and outputs at Social Robots, spotted malware at Cyber Detectives, and designed an app in The Tech Studio. That spark from my childhood visits was rekindled. The whole time I was growing, The Tech was growing, too. Today it is a world-class institution, a resource to the community that has achieved honors like the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. Innovation is the liberation and application of the mind, and The Tech approaches it in a way that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Through my adult eyes, I see and deeply appreciate how The Tech offers a rewarding, accessible portal to technology and science for people from all walks of life. The Tech has been part of my life as a child, a teenager and a young adult. I see it also in my future, someday maybe even as a parent. I’m sure by then the museum will have experiences that are unimaginable to us today. And when they do, it’ll be another no-brainer: I’m going to The Tech. Fall 2016 | 9
StoryCorps @ The Tech When The Tech was awarded the National Medal for Museum and Library Service in 2015, the honor came with a gift: a visit from StoryCorps, a nonprofit organization dedicated to capturing and preserving stories that make up the fabric of America. A StoryCorps team spent three days recording conversations about The Tech and San Jose among students, staff members and supporters. It was an honor and a joy to listen to the stories and thoughts of people who have been so important to The Tech. We hope you enjoy excerpts of these conversations.
From the beginning: A founder shares his story Mercury News columnist Sal Pizarro and former San Jose Mayor and Tech founder Tom McEnery
can’t be a museum with a lot of dusty stuff from the early stages of Silicon Valley. It has to be alive and breathing. It has to be people in here — the next Hewlett, the next Packard, the next Zuckerberg, the next Jobs. He sensed that immediately. “
TM: “We started as a garage, and people saw what it could do. How you could have mothers arriving, which they have regularly here, in a formal program with their daughters from East San Jose, many of them Hispanic, some Vietnamese, and they can see how they can change the future. How they can do just what Dave and Bill and Bob Noyce and Jobs and Woz did. They can change the future. And I have to say it’s nice to live long enough to see some of your projects succeed. ... I remember Dave Packard saying — and he gave us significant money, as did Bill Hewlett — that it
SP: “I remember when it opened in 1998. … It was right at the heart of the dot-com boom. So what a perfect time to be opening The Tech Museum. And it created such an impact on downtown. It was this interesting — some would say strange-looking — mango building with a blue dome that looked like nothing else that was in a traditional downtown at the time. I thought when I saw it that it was just really bold of the city to let that kind of architecture flourish. And I’m not sure that we’ve been as bold since then. I thought this was a great way to say downtown San Jose was really arriving back then.”
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Young people and STEM: “There is no playbook” Prinda Wanakule, Ph.D., Director of Experience Design and Development at The Tech, and Mauria Finley, board member of The Tech and founder of Citrus Lane
PW: “Within the Education team here, we talk a lot about perseverance and creative grit and how we can instill that in a lot of the kids we see every day. And I don’t necessarily think I had really developed that until pretty late. How do you think we can do more of that earlier in middle schools, since middle school is where you really want to make an impact?” MF: “Design challenge thinking — I’m older than you by a decade, but that didn’t exist when I was in school.
And if I had to guess, my guess is it didn’t exist for your middle school years, either. But this notion of design thinking, that you want to build some amazing structure … there is no playbook. There is no ‘follow the instructions.’ You have to figure it out with your team. I think this teaches a really important thing to kids, which is have a dream, make a plan, try it. If it fails, try again. And that the answer isn’t set for you, it’s something you have to discover. So I think that design thinking is such a critical part of people realizing that they can be builders, they can be problem-solvers. … One of the things The Tech does is they take this design thinking and they bring it into communities that wouldn’t otherwise have it. Both girls as well as underserved communities, Title I schools. I think helping people realize that if they are creative, work hard, and keep trying, they can create something special, is a pretty magic feeling.
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Hope amid heartbreak for Silicon Valley Tim Ritchie, President and CEO of The Tech, and Ann Bowers, board member of The Tech and Silicon Valley philanthropist AB: “We just got some statistics earlier this year that say that Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County in particular, has the highest rate of unemployed young people ages 18-26 in the country. … We are not taking care of our community and I find that appalling.” TR: “So when you think about The Tech, and you think about that — you know, how we can address those situations — what are some of your great hopes for The Tech?” AB: “There are things I’ve been trying to push for a number of years. For instance, having the field trips be engaging, as opposed to a day off from school where kids run around and push buttons and pull levers. And having them have the opportunity to have a lab experience and try to figure out something that’s not defined for them I think is really important. And then the [Tech Academies of Innovation] program that’s just launched to train teachers how to teach science in a
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more engaging way so kids will be engaged and won’t be going ‘Oh my god, I hate this stuff. It’s just terrible! I feel stupid.’ And then they just kind of throw in the sponge and the next thing you know they’re in the streets.” TR: “What about connecting that back to your early days as a teacher, visualizing those kids that just got passed through, and then seeing kids at The Tech? I wonder if the connection has to do with respecting kids enough to have high standards to push them in challenging ways.” AB: “I think it’s about opening doors for them. What’s happening for these kids is they don’t see a future. They don’t see an open door. So they give up. And they do end up on the streets. It’s expensive. It’s dangerous and a horrible waste of humanity. … Last year at The Tech Challenge when we had a number of teams that came from East San Jose, I was kind of cruising around talking to them and seeing what they were up to. I asked one team I knew was from East San Jose, and this boy — who I’m pretty sure he wasn’t 12, looked more like 10 — looked at me and said ‘I’ve never been on this side of the freeway before.’ I knew that was probably the case for a number of them, but to have him put that out there right away, that was the big thing for him, was kind of heartbreaking.”
Tech Academies ramping up Educators being trained in transformative methods for engineering lessons Dozens of brightly colored paper airplanes fill the air for a brief moment before landing at the feet of members of The Tech Academies of Innovation. The teachers, principals, district STEM coordinators and after-school mentors carefully unfold the notes, which reveal each other’s thoughts on the three-year program that brings them together this day. “The Tech Academies provided me with the foundation I needed to bring engineering fun to [my school],” one teacher reads aloud. “Yes! I could not have taught all of those lessons without Tech Academies,” the second note read. Similar thoughts are echoed by the whole group of educators from low-income Title I districts across the Bay Area. This spring, The Tech Academies will see its first class of educators complete the three-year program. They emerge committed to incorporating engineering design into the lives of young people and teaching the concepts to other educators. “What I love about this is that it’s not a gimmicky program touting a quick-fix solution,” said Sherry Burch, a science teacher at Monroe Middle School in San Jose. “It’s a sustained effort and highly adaptive, so I can take what I’m learning and apply it to any subject matter. My kids will walk away with stronger problem solving-skills, teamwork and the most important lesson, learning from failure.” The Tech Academies fills an important need as schools scramble to adjust to new state and national science standards. Every year educators from schools paired with after-school programs participate in an intensive two-week Summer Institute, during which they create engineering design lessons. Educators also go on field trips and consult with a panel of engineers to learn more about the real-world concepts behind the curriculum they’re developing. This summer, engineers from Lockheed, Cisco and NASA helped inform lessons about basic engineering and bridges.
Participant Name Engineering Education Leader The Tech Academies of Innovation A program of The Tech
Learn more: thetech.org/techacademies
Participant School/AS Organization Participant email address
“Sometimes we’d present the experts with a design issue, and they said they didn’t know the answer and would need to test it,” said Josh Pizzica, another Monroe science teacher. “Here are some of the smartest people out there, and even they have to experiment and iterate. It’s a great lesson to take back to our students.” The lessons are designed to be quick and easy, but also repeated, which encourages students to take risks and learn more every time they test a new design. “After seven years of bubble-testing, many kids are afraid of the unknown and will shut down if they don’t immediately know the answer,” Pizzica said. “With this new style of teaching, they’re excited to take risks. They seek out the reading on their own and relate to what they’re learning in a real, personal and lasting way.” Fall 2016 | 13
Generation Tech: The first full year How can The Tech ensure that the world’s leading science center dedicated to inspiring young people through applied technologies is available to all young people? Enter the Generation Tech fundraising campaign. With a goal of raising $5 million, this effort supports a decade-long multifaceted initiative designed to help educators inspire and equip the underserved — particularly girls and young people from low-income communities — to succeed in a technology-driven world. With your help, we have raised just over $2 million toward this goal. As we head into a new school year, we are wrapping up a full year of effective new programs made possible by your generosity. Some highlights: • We began a reinvention of The Tech’s field trip experience, with the goal of giving each student visitor a deep, enriching, hands-on experience. We added Innovation Labs in Social Robots and The Tech Studio. This means that in addition to the 31,000 students who participate in a classroom lab, an additional 7,000 girls and boys can enjoy a facilitated design challenge. Next year, we will double the number of these experiences. • The Tech Academies of Innovation, which brings in-depth engineering education excellence to Silicon Valley’s neediest school districts, saw its first cohort complete the three-year program. Forty educators worked to integrate engineering into their classrooms and after-school programs, bringing more than 40 teams to participate in The Tech Challenge, presented by EMC. Participating teachers report feeling more confident about leading STEM-learning activities, increased hours of STEM education for their students and rising student interest in engineering as a career. • More than 900 educators received top-notch professional development offered by The Tech in collaboration with partner organizations such as the Krause Center for Innovation, Code.org, Vidcode, Khan Academy, Embark Labs, Nexmap, Robot Petting Zoo, the Santa Clara County Office of Education and the Silicon Valley Education Foundation.
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Generation Tech also aims to create a pipeline of opportunities for girls that will help dramatically increase their participation in STEM activities and, eventually, STEM careers. We tackle this by ensuring that all Tech offerings are designed to attract and support the learning and inclusion of girls. Also this year, we presented three Girls Day @ The Tech events in partnership with the Junior League of Palo Alto-Mid Peninsula. More than 3,500 girls and their families enjoyed hands-on STEM learning and access to female role models in tech careers. The impact is real. Nancy Gonzalez, who teaches 6th Grade at Escuela Popular in San Jose, recounted a Tech Challenge preparation meeting in which a student lamented, “We can’t do this, because there are no boys on our team!” “A fellow female student replied, ‘We are girls, and we got this!’” Gonzalez says. “After that, the conversation shifted to girl empowerment and the importance of the representation of women in math, science and tech. It was wonderful!” This has been a great year for Generation Tech, but our work is far from complete. And we need your help. We are still trying to reach $5 million raised, a benchmark that will trigger a $5 million matching grant from board member Ann Bowers. Together, these funds will guarantee many more years of fruitful initiatives to support teachers and young people in our community.
Generation Tech Unlocking STEM learning for all
To learn more about Generation Tech, visit thetech.org/generationtech. You may also contact Karen Toste, Annual Fund Director, at ktoste@thetech.org or 1-408-795-6444.
Girls Day @ The Tech Girls, their parents and brothers picked up new skills and tapped into their own problem-solving potential for Girls Day, in partnership with the Junior League of Palo Alto-Mid Peninsula.
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Field trip days with Google, the Sharks and SAP Hundreds of Bay Area students are a step closer to bright futures in Silicon Valley thanks to some important partnerships. Kids built robots, took an adventure in our IMAX theater and enjoyed a nutritious lunch on Sharks and SAP Field Trip Days and the second annual Google Field Trip Day.
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Community Day Silicon Valley families came out in droves to explore our exhibits, challenge themselves in hands-on STEM activities and make a day of memories at this free annual event, which is our way of saying thanks to our community.
Greatest Hits @ The Tech Visitors still make a beeline for The Tech’s oldies but goodies
Buster Need we say more? Our metallic bot has been winning over hearts and minds since the early days of The Tech. While some might consider Buster’s vintage robot exterior obsolete, we know better. Kids and adults alike enjoy a good battle of wits with the sassy andriod and his glowing tuft of hair. We say Buster is classic, and classic is always in style.
Jet Pack Chair It’s not the highest of high-tech, but people can’t stop raving about our jetpack chair. It’s an old-school simulation of an MMU — Manned Maneuvering Unit — used by astronauts on spacewalks. The chair actually floats on compressed air, kind of like a hoverboard. So you aren’t really weightless, but hey, we’ll take a taste of that interstellar life any way we can get it.
The Dome Never fear, downtown San Jose skyline — we have your back! The capital of Silicon Valley just wouldn’t be the same without the big purple peak that houses the Hackworth IMAX Dome Theater. Endless hours of enjoyment have unfolded under the dome, with audiences going on giant-screen adventures across the globe (and beyond!) or watching their favorite Hollywood flicks such as “Harry Potter,” “The Hunger Games” and “Star Wars.”
The Rock The Bay Area’s most famous rock after Alcatraz, the large boulder on our lower level is a kid magnet. What you may not realize is that it’s actually part of a “circuit.” Next time you need to avert your eyes from your child’s death-defying leap, glance at the tile and you’ll see that the rock and its two smaller counterparts represent a giant hunk of silicon in a circuit made of colored tile.
Alphabot Alphabot was pretty cutting-edge in its heyday, and the old-school arm that swiftly moves letter blocks into words still delights children who love to spell out their name or write notes to mom. Occasionally a rogue volunteer will add a word that challenges even the best of spellers, but Alphabot handles it with aplomb using an industrial arm that looks like it stepped out of a ’90s canning plant. Before there were touchpads, there was Alphabot. Trivia: In 2014, a man used the blocks to propose to his girlfriend. How’d it turn out? S-H-E S-A-I-D Y-E-S.
Earthquake Platform This “shake table” simulates the side-to-side action of eight real-life earthquakes. Visitors can experience 1994’s 6.7 Northridge quake or 2014’s 6.0 Napa temblor all in one place. You can even construct your own tower out of blocks to see if it survives the shakes, rattles and rolls. If there’s a fun way to prepare for a natural disaster, this is it!
Design Your Own Roller Coaster Experience all the thrills (OK, some of the thrills) of a roller coaster, but none of the motion sickness. Guests of all ages put their imaginations and physics know-how to the test designing a roller coaster, then hopping on their just-created virtual ride. Sidenote: One of our most popular labs for school kids is Physics of Roller Coasters, which prompts kids to build track for little marble passengers. Clearly, we love a thrill ride!
The Gold Tube This 45-foot-tall beauty is part of an art piece called Origin that was commissioned by the San Jose Public Arts Program. Origin, which spans all three levels of the building, explores the relationship between art and tech while celebrating Earth’s natural resources. Don't forget to walk inside the base and look up. The tree you'll see, as well as the rock circuit, are part of the installation.
The Escalators Yes, the escalators. These babies are big and beautiful, and they burst at the seams when filled with excited field-trip groups and families eager to enter the galleries. Little-known fact: The ThyssenKrupp brand escalator is extremely rare in North America. Go on YouTube and see if you can find the video of breathless admiration of The Tech’s moving stairs, filmed by a connoisseur of great elevators and escalators.
The Ball Machine This audio-kinetic sculpture called “Science on a Roll” has been welcoming visitors to The Tech since before we moved to our current location. People are mesmerized by the Rube Goldberg machine, which moves pool balls in patterns 16 feet above the ground. The machine was a gift from longtime supporters Bob and Marion Grimm, who wanted to inspire people to be curious about how the world works. Insider tip: Visit our new exhibit, BioDesign Studio, and enjoy a new view of the machine from above!
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m o Fr o t e r e H e r e th Presented by Embrace your inner engineer in our new Tech Studio activity, From Here to There! Visitors of all ages will have fun inventing and assembling unique devices to transport payloads across a gap. When you arrive at The Tech Studio, we’ll provide an assortment of building tools and supplies you can use to construct something straight from your imagination. It’s not your typical hardware; keep an eye out for some unusual pieces! The rest is up to you. Do you want your device to fling the payload? Roll it? Slide it? Drop it? You and your friends and family can work together at a table to design and prototype a device. When you think your device is up to the task, try it out at our test rig! We’ll help you use the testing process to identify successes and low points that will help you alter and improve your design.
Opening Oct. 1 in h The Tec Studio! 20 | Made @ The Tech
Whether you’re a novice Lego builder or an AutoCad savant, this program will give you an exciting challenge and a fun-filled creative experience. (It’s also an early taste of The Tech Challenge 2017: Rock the Ravine. Registration for this annual youth engineering design program opens in October!)
Volunteer Dinner Ready for takeoff! This year’s travel-themed Volunteer Dinner was an amazing chance to celebrate the hundreds of volunteers who bring The Tech’s mission to life every day. With their help, we’re really going places!
Volunteer and Inspire
Come help us inspire the innovator in everyone
The Tech is seeking adults 18 and older to volunteer for weekday shifts in the morning and afternoon. If you have a passion for education, community and working with other wonderful volunteers, The Tech is the perfect place for you. Privileges and perks of volunteering: • Free admission to museum and educational IMAX films. • Flexible hours. • Free downtown parking while you volunteer. • Discounts in The Tech Store and The Tech Cafe. • Ongoing training and support for a rewarding experience.
Learn more and apply: thetech.org/volunteers Questions? Call 1-408-795-6190 or email volunteer@thetech.org
Creative Collisions brings people, ideas and technology together for memorable after-hours events. Topics change weekly! Dates and tickets: thetech.org/creativecollisions
air Meetup F y Februar
Know You r Way in Sa n Jose June
22 | Made @ The Tech
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Creative Collisions is an evening series founded by the Swanson Family with thanks to the Koret Foundation.
Bio + Hack ing
April
2016 2016
Thursday, Sept. 29 | 7 to 11 p.m. Dive into the biology of beer! This 21+ event includes tastings from local and regional craft breweries in a commemorative tasting glass you get to keep, as well as beer-brewing demos and talks from expert brewers.
Featured 2016 brewers Ale Industries Anderson Valley Brewing Company Black Hammer Brewing Blue Oak Brewing DasBrew Discretion Brewing
Tickets on sale now!
FireHouse Grill & Brewery Fort Point Beer Company Gordon Biersch Brewing Company
Half Moon Bay Brewing Company Lagunitas Brewing Company Method Brewing North Coast Brewing Co. Redwood Coast Cider Santa Clara Valley Brewing Speakeasy Ales and Lagers Uncommon Brewers
Tickets: thetech.org/geektoberfest In partnership with
Founded by the Swanson Family Special thanks to the Koret Foundation
#CreativeCollisions
201 South Market St. Downtown San Jose Fall 2016 | 23
Tech Challenge teams soar to new heights
The Tech Challenge is the happiest weekend of the year at The Tech. It’s the truest incarnation of our mission to inspire the innovator in everyone. In 2016 the challenge was Taking Flight. More than 2,000 students engineered launchers and gliders designed to deliver supplies to a remote location. Then, on April 23-24, teams put their projects to the test in front of cheering crowds at The Tech, launching their gliders over a mini mountain range and landing them on the other side. 24 | Made @ The Tech
Thank you to everyone who participated, watched, volunteered or otherwise took part. And a special thank you to our presenting sponsor, EMC Corporation, whose support enables us to engage more than 2,800 students — a record! — in months of learning about the engineering design process, teamwork, perseverance and more.
The Tech Challenge by the numbers
1,312
Glider launches on event weekend
672 Volunteers
72
Generous sponsors
89
Awards given
45%
Proportion of female participants — extraordinarily high for a program of this type
2,809
Participants in 2016
Fall 2016 | 25
What do these young people get out of participating in our engineering design program, which includes workshops and test trials? Here’s what they told us:
“I learned that teamwork is one of the most important things in life.”
“I learned to never give up — failure is the way to success.”
26 | Made @ The Tech
“I learned discipline, determination, engineering, journaling, moviemaking, creative thinking and having fun.”
“I learned that ordinary, everyday people can change the world.”
Thank you to our 2016 sponsors! Presenting: EMC Innovator: Cisco Systems, Inc., SAP Founding: Intel, Samsung Principal: Adobe, ARM (Video Contest Sponsor), Bank of America, eBay, Genentech, Motorola Solutions Foundation, Qualcomm, TE Connectivity Foundation, Thermo Fisher Scientific, United Airlines Underwriting: Accenture, Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., Cavium, Inc., Ernst & Young (Official Tabulation Sponsor), First Tech Federal Credit Union, GoDaddy, Barbara and William Heil, Junior League of Palo Alto-Mid Peninsula, Lockheed Martin, Mentor Graphics, Philanthropic Ventures Foundation, SanDisk, Seagate Technology, Splunk, Steinberg, Symantec, Technology Credit Union, Toeniskoetter Construction, Wells Fargo Bank, Workday, Xilinx, Zoom Video Communications
“I learned that it takes many trials to succeed, and that there’s never a successful experience without the struggle.”
Investing: Aruba Networks, Atmel, Best Buy, Box, David H. Liu Foundation, Fairchild, Hitachi Data Systems, Hon Hai - Foxconn, IBM, IDT, McKinsey & Company, Northrop Grumman, Palo Alto Networks, Drew and Ellen Perkins, Raytheon Applied Signal Technology, Sathaye Family Foundation, STMicroelectronics, SunPower Foundation, Synaptics, TiVo Inc., Wave2Wave Foundation Team: BAE Systems, Markkula Foundation, Maxim Integrated, Meriwest Credit Union, Patrons of The Tech Store, Plantronics, Santa Clara Valley Water District Entrepreneurial: FireEye, No Starch Press, San Jose Water Company, TechShop, Hiromitsu Ogawa Media: NBC Bay Area, Telemundo
Showcase: Saturday, April 29 Morning: Grades 4-5 Afternoon: Grade 6 Sunday, April 30 Morning: Grades 9-12 Afternoon: Grades 7-8 thetech.org/techchallenge
Registration opens Friday, Oct. 7.
The 2016 annual gala will be a special retrospective celebrating the first 15 years of The Tech Awards: Technology Benefiting Humanity Thursday, Nov. 17 | 5:30 p.m. Grand Ballroom, San Jose McEnery Convention Center
Gala host: David Pogue, acclaimed science and technology journalist Formal attire of all cultures; traditional textiles encouraged.
For details and tickets: thetech.org/thetechawards
Celebrating The Tech Awards laureates and global humanitarians at our annual gala is an awe-inspiring experience. For 15 years, the gala has showcased the ingenuity and hard work of these game-changing innovators whose use of technology to benefit humanity has helped more than 2 billion people, including many of the world’s most dispossessed. At this year’s gala we will celebrate the first 15 years of The Tech Awards. The ceremony will open with the premiere of a documentary film on the history of the awards, and then we will salute seven past laureates — out of 287 in our history — who are working in impoverished regions and have demonstrated impressive impact since we first recognized them. We look forward to seeing you for an unforgettable evening on Nov. 17.
“There is no more powerful expression of The Tech’s mission and vision than The Tech Awards. The laureates inspire us through their innovations and their lives. They challenge us to take on big problems with creativity, persistence and optimism. They unite us to a global fellowship of people committed to using technology to benefit humanity. Hope is the serious business of The Tech Awards.” 28 | Made @ The Tech
—Tim Ritchie, President and CEO, The Tech
Sam Liccardo, Mayor of San Jose, addressing the 2015 laureates
Global impact of the laureates
Economic Development:
45 million+ people
Education:
1.4 billion+ people
Equality:
387 million+ people
Health:
781 million+ people
2.6 billon people impacted worldwide 12 Global Humanitarians
287
2015: John and Tashia Morgridge
laureates honored
2014: Ted Turner 2013: Dean Kamen 2012: N.R. Narayana Murthy
125+
countries impacted
15,000 gala attendees
$5 million
awarded in cash prizes
2011: Je Skoll 2010: Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan 2009: Al Gore 2008: Muhammad Yunus 2007: Gordon Moore 2006: Bill Gates 2005: Kristine Pearson 2004: James C. Morgan Fall 2016 | 29
The Tech’s true colors
At our 2016 Community Day, we had a contest asking young visitors to show us their favorite things in the museum. Here are the winners!
Name: Tvisha
Name: Divya
Age: 10
Age: 8
30 | Made @ The Tech
City: Milpitas
City: San Jose
Name: Jyoti
Name: Andria
Age: 13
City: San Jose
Age: 11
City: Sunnyvale
Runners-up
Name: Isabella
Name: Destiny
Name: April
Age: 10
Age: 9
Age: 15
Name: Ariana Age: 13 City: San Jose
Name: Bella Age: 7 City: San Jose
Name: Lindsey Age: 11 City: Los Altos
Name: Charlotte Age: 11 City: San Ramon
Name: Edison Age: 8 City: San Ramon
Name: Nishtha Age: 8 City: Mountain View
Name: Amber Age: 11 City: San Jose
Name: June Age: 9 City: San Jose
City: Fremont
City: San Jose
City: San Jose
Fall 2016 | 31
Do try this at home! Who says all the fun has to happen at The Tech? This DIY engineering activity can be put together with cheap store-bought materials or objects you find around the house!
Cupcake Delivery Design Challenge Activity
Introduction In this design challenge, you will create wind-powered contraptions to transport a load. At The Tech, we use 3D-printed cupcakes as our load, but you can use just about any small object. This activity is a great introduction to handson engineering for children 6 and up. While the activity can be completed in around 20 minutes, don’t be surprised if you find yourself spending 45 to 60 minutes perfecting your creation.
Subject: Hands-on engineering
Materials All kinds of items can be used to construct a wind-powered vehicle. Use whatever materials you have on hand!
Key terms: friction surface area balance
Before you start hunting for materials around your house, it’s helpful to consider the goals of your design challenge. Think about what qualities you want your contraption to have, and what you might use to create them. Here are some questions you might ask during the material hunt: • Name some types of vehicles. What parts do they have? • What do you need to hold the load and keep it safe? • What can you use to hold everything together? 32 | Made @ The Tech
Age: 6+ Time: 20+ minutes
Video resource: learnxdesign.org/ learnxdesign_record/ cupcake-delivery/
Things you can use Don’t limit yourself to the items on this list. Use whatever you have on hand — be creative! Items with large surface area that could be made into a sail • Fabric • Cardstock paper • Cardboard scraps • Recycled paper • Foam sheets
Long and skinny items, that could provide structural integrity for flexible sails, or be used as wheel axles • Straws • Popsicle sticks • Chopsticks
Round/circular/spherical items that could be used as wheels
Items that could be used as the base/body of a vehicle
• Cardboard tubes • CDs
• Strawberry baskets • Fry baskets
• Bottle caps • Plastic lids • Paper plates
• Paper cups • Pipette trays • To-go food containers
Other miscellaneous items
Fasteners and fixers
Don’t forget to personalize your design! Craft supplies are a fun way to create a vehicle that represents you.
• Masking tape • Reclaimed scrap plastic parts that could • Twist ties be used for weight balance • String • Rubber bands
Equipment and tools
Something to deliver!
• Scissors • Supply bins (to organize supplies)
• Marbles, matchbox cars, paper clips, leaves, marshmallows
Instructions Set up your testing area Find a spot that has a smooth surface — it could be a table, your driveway or even a piece of cardboard. Place a fan on one end of your track and a finish line at the other. Create and test Once you’ve gathered your materials and set up your test track, it’s time to build! Let your imagination run wild. Try out as many different designs as you can think of. Don’t be discouraged if your first attempts don’t perform as you imagined. Talk out what’s happening — what do you observe when you test? Maybe your creation is too heavy on one side, or creates too much friction when traveling across the track? Test and retest!
Here are some exploratory questions to ask yourself as you work on your contraption: Why do you think your design is ... • tilting? • falling forward? • getting stuck? • not moving? How might you make it travel faster? Slower? What do you think would happen if you adjusted an angle on your design?
Fall 2016 | 33
Showtimes and tickets: thetech.org/imax
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The Tech 201 South Market Street San Jose, CA 95113 1-408-294-8324 thetech.org
Look inside to see our Community Day 2016 Coloring Contest winners! Page 30