Made @ The Tech - Spring 2017 by The Tech Interactive

Made @ The Tech The Tech Museum of Innovation | San Jose, CA

Spring 2017

Annual Report 2016 Gratitude for our donors

Reboot Reality

Incredible virtual experiences

Global Good

Announcing a new program

#MadeAtTheTech

Image created with Tilt Brush by Google and HTC Vive, a virtual reality headset. Check out the back of this magazine to see the work in progress!

The Power of Purpose Letter from the President Dear friends, Two goals matter most to The Tech. One is to inspire the innovator in everyone. The other is to encourage people to use technology to benefit humanity. We are launching a new initiative that we believe will address both: The Tech for Global Good. Studies show that people are more motivated to persist through difficult tasks (like understanding science and technology) when they can attach their efforts to a larger purpose. Studies conducted by the White House and Google established this link, showing it is especially true for young women and people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Tech knows all about inspiring people with the power of technology to solve big problems. For 16 years, we have done so at The Tech Awards gala, presented by Applied Materials. For one magical evening, more than 1,000 guests gather to become inspired by the efforts of our laureates, who use technology to protect the planet, ease suffering and create economic opportunity. Now the time has come to use the magic of that evening to inspire the hundreds of thousands of young people who visit The Tech each year with a vision for bending their lives to help others. The Tech for Global Good initiative will affect nearly everything we do. We will use the stories of our laureates to form the basis of yearlong exhibits and programs. We will host regular convenings on technology and global challenges. We will bring The Tech Awards gala into The Tech itself. We believe that by infusing our activities with a deep sense of purpose, we will do a better job of inspiring young people. Our goal is to help build a pipeline of the next generation of innovators who will create a better future for everyone on this planet we call home.

Tim Ritchie President and CEO

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Learn more about The Tech for Global Good on Page 22.

Made @ The Tech Editor-in-Chief Amy Pizarro

Letter from the Board Chair

Senior Editors Jeff Gire Marika Krause

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contributions Corporate Spotlight Donor Spotlight Staff Spotlight Volunteer Spotlight Annual Report 2016

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inspirations Reboot Reality Flights of Fancy Define This: Virtual Reality Try, Try Again: Celebrating 30 Years of The Tech Challenge Steering Tech Toward a Greater Purpose

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INNOVATIONS Sci App Fun Stranger Than Friction Built Right The Tech Academies: What Is It All About?

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Tech, Yeah! Under the Dome Scene @ The Tech Do Try This At Home! LOL With Buster What Is It? Social Corner

Graphic Designer Krista Thomas Copy Editor Betsy Towner Levine Contributors Jennifer Bullock Lauren Cage Chris DiGiorgio Michelle Duncan Scott Hamman Abby Longcor Rebekah Nelson Christina Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Guinn Talance Orme Katie Ozawa Tim Ritchie Dan Streelman Prinda Wanakule Rachel Wilner Photographers Naâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;im Beyah Jennifer Bullock Don Feria Matthew Ivan Kevin Meynell Karen Santos Leadership Team Tim Ritchie President and CEO Harvard Sung CFO Bill Bailor Vice President, Operations Maria Pappas Vice President, Development Gretchen Walker Vice President, Learning Rachel Wilner Vice President, Media and Community Charles Pearson Director, Information Systems Color Information

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Made @ The Tech is a magazine 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 and Community, at apizarro@thetech.org. 201 S. Market Street #MadeAtTheTech San Jose, CA 95113 #MadeAtTheTech 408-294-8324 thetech.org #MadeAtTheTech

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Letter from the Board Chair

Board of Directors

Dear friends,

Michael R. Abbott Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Always we begin again. Transitioning from one success to another is what Silicon Valley does. At the peak of their game, many companies pivot — and that’s exactly what The Tech is doing in its new program, The Tech for Global Good. This is a natural and important evolution for our institution. In its 16 years, The Tech Awards, presented by Applied Materials, has impacted billions of lives around the world, and it’s time to bring that innovation home in the form of a year-round program. What has made our Tech Awards laureates most successful is having the courage to change, the courage to adapt their business model to help ever more lives. Tech laureate Equal Access started its education programming with satellite radio reaching 10,000 people in Nepal. Today it reaches 70 million in nine countries by incorporating live theater and social media. Another, Angaza, began selling solar lighting to replace dangerous kerosene in Africa. Now its focus has shifted to businesses, providing a “pay as you go” system for solar energy that amplified its impact by making it easier for people to access solar lighting. The Tech must adapt as well. We’ve run a very successful program, but it’s time to elevate our annual celebration of technology benefiting humanity. The Tech for Global Good will shift our focus from one night of honoring social entrepreneurship to 12 months of inspiration. We will honor laureates with both The Tech Awards and exhibits highlighting laureates’ work. In addition to all else we do to nurture kids in STEM learning, we’ll be inspiring them to create technology that makes an impact. The idea of social entrepreneurship has come a long way since the first Tech Awards in 2001, and young people today have much more opportunity to make an impact with technology. We must find ways to use our talent and encourage the next generation to dedicate their abilities to solving big problems through innovation. The future depends on it.

Chris DiGiorgio Chairman, Board of Directors

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Emmanuel Barbara Silicon Valley Education Foundation James J. Barrese Ruba Borno Cisco Systems Ann S. Bowers Past Board Chair Chris Boyd Kaiser Permanente Chuck Boynton Sunpower Corporation Edward G. Cannizzaro Board Treasurer KPMG LLP Gloria Chen Adobe Systems, Inc. Hon. David D. Cortese Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors James C. Deichen Suntrust Robinson Humphrey Christopher S. DiGiorgio Board Chair Accenture (ret.) Mauria Finley John Giubileo Dell EMC Raquel Gonzalez Bank of America William W. Heil

Randy Krenzin, CFP Wells Fargo Advisors Dan’l Lewin Microsoft R. L. Smith McKeithen Enconcert, Inc. Jami Dover Nachtsheim Intel (ret.) Omkaram (Om) Nalamasu, Ph.D. Applied Materials Don Norling Volunteer Representative Stuart Pann HP Inc. Daniel Perez Oncore Manufacturing Services (ret.) Frank P. Quattrone Past Board Chair Qatalyst Group Roger J. Quinlan Board Secretary SAP America, Inc. A. Peter Relan Crowdstar Tim Ritchie, President and CEO The Tech Matthew Sapp Ernst & Young LLP Judy C. Swanson The Swanson Foundation

Dave House

Daniel J. Warmenhoven Board Vice Chair Warmenhoven Holdings, LLC NetApp (ret.)

Joe Kava Google

Steve Young HGGC

Gerald D. Held, Ph.D. The Held Group

CONTRIBUTIONS

Thank you for A sweet ’16 Families from all over Northern California enjoy learning within the walls of our treasured institution and through our many educational programs. We’re especially proud that every year, thanks to donors like those listed in this 2016 Annual Report, thousands of students from low-income schools come to The Tech for one-of-a-kind field trips. Here, children unlock

their potential as budding scientists and engineers by experimenting with colorful concoctions in our chemistry labs, solving real engineering challenges in The Tech Studio and realizing their power to devise creative solutions in our custom-designed exhibits. Your donation makes a real difference in their lives and our society’s future.

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Corporate Spotlight Applied Materials In his new book, “Applied Wisdom,” former Applied Materials CEO Jim Morgan writes about the motivation behind founding The Tech Awards. At the turn of the century, amid booming IPOs, Silicon Valley was losing sight of “the potential of innovation to solve persistent problems that created suffering in the world, or that held large numbers of people back from achieving a decent, sustainable quality of life,” Morgan writes. The Tech Awards were the result of collaboration between The Tech, Applied Materials and Santa Clara University, and launched in 2001 as a way to celebrate technology that benefits humanity. Applied Materials has supported The Tech since the museum’s inception, including a significant role as presenting sponsor of The Tech Awards. Over the past 16 years, the program has honored 294 laureates who have improved the lives of more than 2.6 billion people. “One of the things I am most proud of is how we’ve brought attention to the many ways technology can improve people’s lives,” Morgan said, “which has always been core to our organization’s mission.” In 2004, the James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award was founded with Morgan as the inaugural recipient. The humanitarian award brought a new level of renown to 6 | Made @ The Tech

Joe Pon, corporate vice president at Applied Materials the program, as the list of honorees would include some of the most influential figures in technology and global development, including Bill Gates, Muhammad Yunus, Jeff Skoll, Gordon Moore, Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan and former Vice President Al Gore. The program has also provided essential support for The Tech. On top of more than $5 million awarded to laureates, the program has raised about $1 million each year to further the broad aims of the institution. “Through exhibits and school programs, The Tech plays a critical role to inspire the next generation of innovators,” said Joe Pon, corporate vice president at Applied Materials. “Visitors learn that they have the power to create something new that will benefit others, which is a positive catalyst to spark change in our community.” Silicon Valley is a place built by some of the world’s great problem-solvers and engineers. And for 16 years The Tech Awards, with the support of Applied Materials, has celebrated the best uses of technology and engineering talent. “The work of the laureates has been a good reminder that when teams of talented people put their minds together to tackle tough problems, they can change the world for the better,” Pon said.

CONTRIBUTIONS

Donor Spotlight Ann Bowers For Ann Bowers, supporting The Tech has been a way to continue the legacy of her late husband, Intel founder Bob Noyce, through a passion they shared: the importance of science and math education in Silicon Valley. “The focus of the Noyce Foundation is on things [Bob] was really concerned about,” said Bowers, who is the founding and senior trustee of the foundation and a former president of The Tech’s board of directors. “The Tech provides the perfect opportunity to improve the teaching of science — both in schools and in outside-ofschool situations.” Just about anyone who comes through the doors at The Tech has the opportunity to learn. Scores of students filter through exhibits and labs on field trips. Educators are trained in the latest pedagogies for science and math in The Tech Academies program. And, yes, even former board presidents may pick up a thing or two, as Bowers herself recently experienced when she attended a 3D-printing demo in The Tech Studio. There Bowers observed a girl whose left hand was different from birth — not all her fingers had fully developed — as she examined a display of 3D-printed prosthetics. The girl raised her left hand, exclaiming, “I could use that!” A visiting college student who was interning at The Tech followed up with the girl to create a custom prosthetic. “Frankly, it transformed me,” Bowers said. “I didn’t know you could do that sort of thing. And I thought, wow, if we can do that, what else can we do that would really help people, beyond the experience of a fun afternoon at The Tech?” The support of Bowers and the Noyce Foundation is a big reason such technology and programming is on display at The Tech. As former director of personnel for Intel and the first vice president of human resources for Apple, it’s fitting that Bowers played a role in a key hiring decision when the board brought on current president Tim Ritchie in 2011.

“The Tech provides the perfect opportunity to improve the teaching of science — both in schools and in outside-of-school situations.” — Ann Bowers, shown with Tim Ritchie, President and CEO of The Tech

“He just changed the basic experience from that of an exhibit hall into something far more purpose-driven,” Bowers said. “Visitors have to actively participate — and it’s also a lot of fun. The Tech became entirely a different place.” With so much that has changed at The Tech since those early “exhibit hall” days, what does Bowers think her husband would make of the place? “He would be down there playing right now,” she said, smiling. “He would love it.”

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Staff Spotlight Michelle Maranowski

Very few jobs demand that a person become an expert in robotics, cyber security, health care technology and climate change in just five years.

“Creating exhibits is a team effort to think about the most evocative and impactful way we can approach a complex topic.”

But that’s exactly why Michelle Maranowski loves her position as curator and exhibit developer at The Tech. Maranowski is the mastermind behind some of our most popular exhibits, including Cyber Detectives, presented by Palo Alto Networks, and Innovations in Health Care, presented by El Camino Hospital, and she played a major role in developing Social Robots.

Maranowski brings impressive skills to The Tech, including a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Purdue University and a thirst for knowledge that fuels her leadership in challenging projects. She’s currently working on an exhibit that explores using technology to live sustainably on Earth in the context of climate change. She speaks with world-renowned experts in the course of her research.

If you’ve spent a day at The Tech, you’ve no doubt enjoyed one of the experiences she’s carefully crafted to be smart, yet approachable and fun. Maranowski is quick to point out that she doesn’t work alone. “I love the collaborative nature of what I do,” she said.

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“It’s exciting and an honor to talk to Nobel Prize winners,” Maranowski said. “I recently had an in-depth conversation with the author of the climate-change report used to set policy by leaders around the world about what’s happening with ice caps in Antarctica. It’s thrilling to have access to these experts and figure out how we’ll convey this information to our visitors.”

CONTRIBUTIONS

Volunteer Spotlight Pat Neargarder Pat Neargarder joined The Tech’s army of more than 400 volunteers in June 2010. Since then, he has logged more than 915 hours helping guests in the galleries as well as providing support for special events. An electrical engineer, Neargarder earned his bachelor’s degree from Valparaiso University and master’s from Santa Clara University. In 1966 he was drafted into the Army, serving in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969. Upon returning home, Neargarder put his degree to many uses in Silicon Valley, working as a control engineer, software engineer, software manager, software director and principal engineer in small- to medium-sized companies. He retired in 2010. “After retirement, I wanted to keep involved with people outside my family and friends. I also wanted to give back to the community,” Neargarder said. “I did my research, and since I am a technical type of person, The Tech seemed a good match. “I like the technical content, but interfacing with people — especially the young kids — is the most enjoyable part of the work. To see a young kid learn something new is very rewarding.”

“I like the technical content, but interfacing with people — especially the young kids — is the most enjoyable part of the work.”

We need you! Many volunteer positions are available to fit your skills, talents and schedule. To learn more, contact us at 1-408-795-6190 or volunteer@thetech.org

Privileges and perks of volunteering • Free admission to museum and e ducational 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 volunteer experience. Come help us in our mission to inspire the innovator in everyone! Spring 2017 | 9

CONTRIBUTIONS

Annual Report 2016 Total revenue, including in-kind, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016, was more than $21.5 million, including $13.7 million in contributions, representing 64% of total revenue. Of this amount, $7.3 million came from contributions to the Tech 3.0 capital campaign. Earned revenue from ticket sources such as general admissions and special-event facility rentals accounted for 25%. Public support from the City of San Jose equaled 11% and included a general operating subsidy as well as the value of donated space occupied by the museum. Strong revenue and an expense level of $20.3 million resulted in a surplus for the year. This surplus will primarily be used to renovate exhibits and enhance the overall visitor experience. 76% of The Techâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expenses were allocated to programs, 14% to marketing and administration, and 10% to fundraising. This strong financial performance helped The Tech retain its four-star rating, the highest possible, by Charity Navigator, Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading independent charity rating tool.

Revenue Contributions

11% $13,721,150

Earned

$5,523,163

Public

$2,304,769

Total Revenue

$15,421,956 $2,944,083

Fundraising

$1,943,160

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64%

Earned Public Total Revenue

10%

Marketing and Administration

Total Expenses

Contributions

$21,549,082

Expenses Programs

25%

$20,309,199

14%

Programs

76%

Marketing and Administration Fundraising Total Expenses

CONTRIBUTIONS

CORPORATE AND INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATES As of June 30, 2016

INSPIRATIONAL ($1,000,000 and above) City of San Jose BENEFACTOR ($250,000 to $999,999) Applied Materials, Inc. Sharks Foundation VISIONARY ($100,000 to $249,999) S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation Dell EMC Forever Young Foundation Google, Inc. Intel Corporation Microsoft Corporation James and Rebecca Morgan Family Foundation PayPal, Inc. SAP The Sobrato Organization Sutter Health FOUNDING ($50,000 to $99,999) Bank of America Cisco Systems, Inc. Genentech, Inc. Monterey Peninsula Foundation, host of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Nasdaq Foundation Qatalyst Partners LP Qualcomm, Inc. Samsung Seagate Technology, Inc. PRINCIPAL ($25,000 to $49,999) Accenture Adobe Systems Incorporated Amgen Foundation ARM eBay Ernst & Young GoDaddy JPMorgan Chase & Company Huntsman Gay Global Capital Koret Foundation KPMG LLP Motorola Solutions Foundation Oracle Corporation SanDisk Corporation Leo M. Shortino Family Foundation SunPower Corporation TE Connectivity Foundation Thermo Fisher Scientific Wells Fargo Bank Xilinx, Inc. UNDERWRITING ($10,000 to $24,999) Asset Management Company Broadcom Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. Cavium, Inc. Evercore Partners First Tech Federal Credit Union Gilead Heising-Simons Foundation Hitachi Data Systems IBM Intuit, Inc. Junior League of Palo Alto-Mid Peninsula Kirkland & Ellis LLP Khosla Ventures David H. Liu Foundation Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company Mentor Graphics Foundation The Moca Foundation Nvidia Corporation The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Philanthropic Ventures Foundation PricewaterhouseCoopers Radar Partners Salesforce.com

San Jose Mercury News Wish Book San Jose State University Santa Clara University Sathaye Family Foundation Serena Software Silicon Valley Bank Skoll Foundation Splunk Steinberg STMicroelectronics, Inc. Studio 9+ SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Symantec Corporation Synopsys Technology Credit Union Toeniskoetter Construction United Airlines University of Wisconsin Foundation Western Digital Foundation Workday Zoom Video Communications INVESTING ($5,000 to $9,999) Aruba Networks, Inc. Association of Science and Technology Centers Atmel Benesse Corporation Best Buy Foundation Box, Inc. Robert E. and Adele Boydston Foundation Champion Charities Cisco Systems Foundation Fairchild Semiconductor First Republic Bank Foxconn Integrated Device Technology Intel Volunteer Grant Program Kaiser Permanente Legacy Venture Levi’s McKinsey & Company Northrop Grumman Corporation Palo Alto Networks Provident Credit Union Raytheon Applied Signal Technology, Inc. Santa Clara University Synaptics Tivo, Inc. Wave2Wave Foundation Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Yahoo! Employees Foundation SPONSORING ($2,500 to $4,999) BAE Systems The Bronson Group LLC Event Network/The Tech Store Brett and Michelle Galloway Foundation General Atlantic Kinder Morgan Foundation The Markkula Foundation Maxim Integrated Medius Meriwest Credit Union miraclefeet Plantronics, Inc. Santa Clara Valley Water District ENTREPRENEURIAL ($1,000 to $2,499) DayOne Response, Inc. FireEye GE Foundation Law Office of Thomas Hogan Nocimed, Inc. San Jose Water Company Signature Flight Support Wireless Broadband Alliance IN KIND Adobe Systems Incorporated Advocate Creative Apple, Inc. ARM Bay Club Courtside Change Catalyst Cisco Systems, Inc. Ferrari Maserati of Silicon Valley

Forbes, Inc. Hotel De Anza Hyatt Place San Jose/Downtown International Wafer Service Jamieson Ranch Vineyards J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines KIS KPMG Lexus of Stevens Creek NBC Bay Area No Starch Press Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme Plantronics, Inc. Recent Toys San Jose Marriott San Jose State University Department of Music Scott’s Seafood Sonoma Raceway SRI International TechShop, Inc. Telemundo 48 Tesla Motors Tuxedo Fashions United Airlines

INDIVIDUAL DONORS As of June 30, 2016

VISIONARY ($100,000 and above) Ann S. Bowers James and Rebecca Morgan Family Foundation Charmaine and Dan Warmenhoven The Swanson Family FOUNDER ($50,000 to $99,999) Deedee and Burton McMurtry The Moore Family Foundation Gordon and Betty Moore Jami Dover Nachtsheim and Stephen Nachtsheim AMBASSADOR ($25,000 to $49,999) Jimi and Edward Barnholt Sonja and William Davidow Susan and John Diekman Eileen and Christopher DiGiorgio Barbara and John Glynn Barbara and William Heil, Jr. Connie and Jerry Held Franklin and Catherine Johnson Foundation Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation Shannon and Joseph Kava Joanne Harrington and Lorry Lokey Joyce Milligan Cheryl and Lonnie Smith Jack Wheatley INNOVATOR ($10,000 to $24,999) Penelope and Ronald Blake Mary Lee and Edward Cannizzaro Esther John and Aart de Geus Ann Howland and John Doerr Dawn and Gary Guthart Gloria Chen and John Kibarian Gay and William Krause Worth and Andrew Ludwick Karen and Mark McLaughlin Tashia and John Morgridge N.R. Murthy Josie and Dan Perez Bobbie and David Pratt Christine and Tim Ritchie Denise Foderaro and Frank Quattrone Amy and Matthew Sapp Sathaye Family Foundation Judy and Les Vadasz Marva and John Warnock Mauria Finley and Greg Yap Sandy and Chris Yen INVESTING ($5,000 to $9,999) Gordon Bell Jennifer and Charles Boynton Dana Evan Family

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CONTRIBUTIONS Eva Grove Beverly and Kenneth Haughton Jane and William Kind Patti and Mike Klayko Susan and Danâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;l Lewin Kathleen and Smith McKeithen Ellen and Drew Perkins Cathy and Roger J. Quinlan Stratton Sclavos Family Donna Dubinsky and Leonard Shustek Timi Del Conte and John M. Sobrato SPONSORING ($2,500 to $4,999) Anna and Rob Bradshaw Greg Butterfield Martha and Paul Chamberlain Marnie Mar and Butch Francisco The Brett and Michelle Galloway Foundation Patricia and Martin Giles John Giubileo Robert A. Grimm David Hitz David and Maureen Kennedy Karen and Richard King Jennifer and Randall Krenzin Ronnie Lott Kim Worsencroft and David McEvoy Shara and David Morishige Dean Morton Janice Nelson Julie Packard Brett Rochkind Diane Green and Mendel Rosenblum Kathryn Salmanowitz Phillips Van Heusen David Whitman ENTREPRENEURIAL ($1,000 to $2,499) Jeryl and Ron Abelmann Barbara and Frank Barone Janice and Thomas Berthold Adele Bihn Paul Billig Madeline and Timothy Blackwood Chris Boyd David Bradford Arlene and Gregory Brown Robert Bynum Juana and Larry Carter Karin and Steven Chase Bernadette and Jeff Clavier Fannie Allen and George Cogan Pattie and David Cortese Peggy and Yogen Dalal Marla and James de Broekert Nancy Blachman and David DesJardins Lynette DiNapoli Jennifer and Philip DiNapoli Celia and Jim Dudley Joan and Alan Earhart ConcepciĂłn and Irwin Federman Elwanda and William Fenwick Jeanne and Frank Fischer Kama and Thomas Fletcher Renu and Dhrumil Gandhi Jocelyn Goldfein Susan Valeriote and Ken Goldman Hon Mai and Joseph Goodman Pooja Mittal and Vikas Gupta Munira Shamim and Amer Haider Jan Half Lucia Halliday Peggy and Fred Heiman Noreen and James Helvie Brian Hetherington Joanna Hoffman Devi Kadmar and David House Beverly and Charles Huss Robert Kieve Michele and Steve Kirsch Christina Klayko Jennifer Konecny Michael and Ina Korek Foundation Trust James Krivan Terry and Bill Krivan Michelle and Michael Kwatinetz

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Catherine Lego Laura Becker-Lewke and Reynold Lewke Karen and Walter Loewenstern Shilin Jiang and Gregory Luth Jen Lutton Ann and Robert Marangell Alison and Michael Mauze Rosalind Solon Morris and J. David Morris Sukanya and Omkaram Nalamasu Edward Nigro Eric Nyhus Hiromitsu Ogawa Anthony and Maria Pappas Carrie and Greg Penner Lora and Scott Peterson Joan Platt Hal Powell Dorothy Reagan Renuka and Peter Relan Beth and Stephen Robie Robert Rodert Maria and Willem Roelandts Catherine Rossi-Roos and Mark Roos Linda Tsai and John Ryan Kathleen Rydar Suzanne and Ali Salehpour Edward So Eta and Sasson Somekh Heather and Andrew Steingruebl Adina Stevens Mary Murphy and Mark Stevens Fred St. Goar Daniel Tellep Andrea and Joseph Thomas Benjamin Wang Evelyn Williams Rachel and John Wilner Elizabeth Wolf Linda and King Won EXPLORER ($500 to $999) Paul Alexander Christina and James Barrese Russita and Arvind Bedi Lori Berry Punita Bigler Madonna and Gabriel Bolano Martine Peetermans and Ivo Bolsens Chris Boyd Sally and Richard Braugh Susanne Brokaw Joseph R. Bronson Judy Bruner Atul Butte Doreen Cadieux Mary Lee and Edward Cannizzaro Christopher Cassidy Albert Chan Paula and Hsin-Ping Chang Marlene and Jason Citron Sandi and Richard Conniff Linda and John Conover Kelly and Francois Delepine Gretchen DiNapoli Ted Dobos Diane Shearer and Bill Fahsholtz Jay Fulcher Marilyn and Bob Garibaldi Matthew Glotzbach Ronald Haak Arline and James Harper Melanie and Christopher Harrell Melinda Rogers and Eric Hixon Emily and Karen Holton Lori Houtekier Ana Mendez and Rajeev Jayavant Madhuri Ramanathan and Ashvin Kannan Lisa and Jay Kerley Michael Kirsch Tom Larkins Stafford Lee Joan and Robert Lyons Robin and Stephen MacDonald Gretchen and James Mair Maureen Langan and Dave Mewes Camille and Charles Mosley, Jr.

John J. Navrides Katy Orr Melanie and Charles Pearson Victor Peng Jan and Don Provan Ethel D. Queen Heather Rock Mehran Sahami Grace Nichols and Yuri Saito Steve Schramm Brian Schunck Mark Sherman Pamela and Edward Taft Chuck Untulis Janet Brownstone and Andrew Verhalen Christina and Webb McKinney John Wernli SUSTAINING ($250 to $499) Valerie Adeva Alexander Alas Allison and Steven Aldrich Dudley Andersen Miriam Taimisto and Glenda G. Anderson Anonymous Elizabeth Arias Lisa Au Susan Bagoye Laurie Kraljev and Caroline Baker Marianne Baldrica Diana Morabito and Keith Ball Sameeta and Dhiraj Ballal Sandeepan Banerjee Marie and Douglas Barry Laura Barton Rajiv Batra Kanesha and Tahllee Baynard Brian Beattie Nancy Beckman Annie Bedichek Lauren Berman Jennifer Bernhard Kelly Blaser Tia Verches and Will Bluhm Kristin Gershfield and Donna Boger Cynthia Bohan Ronen Bojmel Susan Borkin Bridget Brennan and Andres Botero Joan and John Bower Alicia Bowman Kristin and Blaine Bowman Susan Bradford-Moore Sabrina Braham Nicole and Blake Bridges Teresa Briggs Marcie and Chet Brown Karen Stokes and Robert Brown Robert Buchser Raj Bugata Janice Toyoshima and David Bungo Kelly and Tom Byrne Stella Calder Encarnacion Cantu Ofelia and Harold Careway Elisa Carias Jennifer and Brian Carlstrom Nancy and John Cassidy Judy and Edward Chang Roger Chen Donald Chesaarek Carolyn Chi Jessamine Chin Gloria Chou Crystal Chow Jessica Christie Marie and Robert Clapp Karen Clark Pat Clark Mary and Michael Clarke Shemetta and Thomas Cobourn Michael Coke Denise and Timothy Cole Robert Cook Joan and Gary Cooper Tomi Owens and Daniel Costello

CONTRIBUTIONS Nat Cousins Christy and Joe Covalesky Nancy and Alan Covington Kimberly and Keith Cox Lucy Coyle Sheryll Cruz Anne and Peter Damron Laura and Arnold de Leon Nancy Heinen and Dennis DeBroeck Ryan Dionne Sharon Carroll and Robert Downs Linh Duong Crecenciano Duran Amanda and Barry Eberly Michael Elliott Jane and Wade Ellis Tim Enney Claudia Hill and L.C. Enoksen Dorie Escalante Mary and Scott Eschen Chris Eyre Steve Fairbanks Su Fang-Crichton Greg Fant Susan Farrar Deborah Faryniarz Eileen Fernandes Julie Filice Amy Finch Lawson Fisher Teresa Flory Stephen Fogli Sabrina and Forrest Iglesbee Sophie Horiuchi and Paul Forrester Nancy and Jack Forristel Jeremy Freeman Michelle Fries Lei Gao Jose Garcia Nadine Gassner Lenore Olivas and Rich Gee Arnnon Geshuri Stacy and Robert Gleixner Janice and Mel Goertz Andrea Goldsmith John Goode Ann and Scot Granger Fawn and Brad Grattidge

Lynda and Richard Greene Spencer Greene Edith Grimsley Iskara and Baldev Gupta Alayne and Joseph Gyetvai Elaine and Eric Hahn John Hall Stephanie Hamblin Hang Harper Joan Takenaka and Kevin Hatch Laura Hawkins Kristen Heaton Ruth and David Helfinstein Kathleen and Richard Hendricks Virginia and Wolfgang Henke Rosemary and Miguel Hernandez Lynn and Horace Hines Diana and Robert Hirahara Trang Hoang Marieanne Hodang Matthew Hoffman Susan Holmes John Holton Marjorie Hondl Su-Jan and Chung-Ho Huang Ming-Hui Huang Hao N. Hwang Elisabeth and Pierre Irissou Ra Ishak Michael Jacobson Danielle James Chuck Johnson Cordelia Johnson Deborah Johnson Myra Johnson Melvin Jones Victor Jorge Paula Judge Leah Jullia Heidi Kadison Peggy and Mark Kaminsky James Kang Christina Kawaakoa Jennifer Kayhan Jason Kazarian Amy Neubert Ketcham James King Dale Knievel

Kay Knox Eunsuk Ko Nikhil Kolekar Radhika Kolla Jerry Kozak Tharun Kuppireddy Anita and Yucaipa Kwock Stephanie Ladeira Jun Lai Rajesh Lalwani Brian Latimer Quynh Le Scott Leatherman Jazmin LeBlanc Caroline Lee Karen and Keith Lee Su Jeong Lee Tina and Wayne Levenfeld Bethany Lewis Juancho Libiran Michele and Bjorn Liencres Jennifer Lin Barbara and William Linder Adam Lindsay Heidi Lindsay Jinny and Mark Lockhart Laura Long Karen and Howard Loomis Dixie and Ron Lopes Tom Lu Rosemarie and Dale Luck Gary Lynam Alicia Rojas and Howard Lyons Doug MacMillan Laurie Hunter and Jonathan MacQuitty Timothy Mai Barbara A. Malaspina Dianne Marsh Massey Family Wakana Masumoto Cherian Mathews Sharon McCauley Claudia McCoy Richard McFarling Mary McGlynn Chris McGugan Lisa McLeod Susan McOmber

“The Tech brings the love of science to life and allows students to learn hands-on what they can normally only read about.” — Loraine De La Torre, 5th-grade teacher at Laurel Wood Elementary School

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CONTRIBUTIONS Marco Mendoza Ronald Meyer Robert Meyers Nancy Reagan and Charles Mignosa Wendi Miller Aninda Moitra Harold Morales Rand Morimoto Danielle Moskowitz Akeem Mostamandy Patricia Motock Kimberly and Michael Mulcahy Mary Mullen Laura Mullin Rehana Munshi Richard Murphy Candyce Myers Kris Myers Helen Kurpiewski and Jon Nack D Nagami Kelli Nakamura Diana Nakano Corazon Naraval Aparna Menrai and Gurmeet Naroola Sudha Neelakantan Angie and Paul Newhagen Thomas Ngo William Nguyen Grace and Brian Nichols Susan and Arnim Nicolson Matthew Niehaus Richard Nolan Carol Novello Mildred and Merlin Nygren Pam Krebs-Oki and Mark Kiyoto Oki Nancy and Curtis Palm Maria and Anthony Pappas Alice Sage and Rahvl Parekh Todd Park Kristen Parrish Vanita Patell Elizabeth and Tom Pavel Joy Peacock Karen and Donald Pettibone Lisa and Paul Pilipenko Jeff Pinsker Julie Plummer Vanessa Potter Anand Prakash Rebeca Rafael Jeff Rahn Sonia and Rajeev Rai Juan Ramirez-Quintero Mayma Raphael Yael Resner Ernesto Rey David Reyes Karen and Richard Taylor Kim Richardson Julie Robeck Kay and Neil Robinson Kevin Roche Ricardo Rodriguez Beth and Peter Rosenthal Salvador Ruiz Kathleen Russler Safieh Saib Beatrice Salinas Woodrow Salyer Caitlin Samenfeld-Specht Crystal Sanchez Valerie Sassani Salim Scafuto Harriet and David Schnur Nancy Schwalen Michele and David Schwartz Chad Scoma Anne and Sean Hehir Anup Shah Elizabeth Shen Melissa Sheridan Ben Simpson Suzanne Smith Janeen and Robert Sohigian Jaeik Song Sylvia Soong

14 | Made @ The Tech

Gloria and Evan Spanier Sarah Springer Kira Steifman Frances and Calvin Stevens Carmen and Lawrence Stone Angela Storey Jason Takagaki Andria Takesy Hong Tam Devone Tarabetz Nicholas Taylor Yufang Ting Kalee Tock Thomas Tran Ha Huy Trinh Claudia Truesdell Lana Tsang Ann Tsukamoto Boris and Igor Tsyganskiy Steve Twitchell Jannette Unck Teruo Utsumi John Vartanian Beth and Toby Villa Tuire Visuri Gregory Waldorf Faiga Walfish Diane and Clint Walker Jennifer Walrod Edith Cohen and Alexander Wang Jan Wang Zhihong Wang Wb Way Matthew Weathers Persis Drell and James Welch Irene Rademaker and Gordon Wenneker Caron and Rick Whitacre David Whiting Joe Whitson Dan T. Williamson Martin Winter Corinne and Todd Wipke Anne and Derek Witty Anita and Donald Wolf Elaine and Harvey Wong Steven Wong Catherine Woo Kathleen and Rich Woodward Jason Zaixin Xie Tong Xie Sandy and Scott Yang Donna and Lewis Yobs Angela Feng and James Young Leah and Mark Zanella Katie Zazueta Haoran Zheng Deborah Goldberg and Daniel Zimmermann

TECH 3.0 CAMPAIGN As of June 30, 2016

$10,000,000 and above Ann S. Bowers $1,000,000 to $9,999,999 William K. Bowes Jr. Foundation Brin Wojcicki Foundation Bequest of Michael L. Hackworth Franklin and Catherine Johnson Foundation Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Palo Alto Networks Denise Foderaro and Frank Quattrone Charmaine and Dan Warmenhoven $500,000 to $999,999 El Camino Hospital Google, Inc. Kaiser Permanente $100,000 to $499,999 Abbott Vascular Jimi and Edward Barnholt Susan and John Diekman

Barbara and William Heil, Jr. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation House Family Foundation Institute of Museum and Library Services The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation John S. and James L. Knight Foundation James and Rebecca Morgan Family Foundation National Science Foundation The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Jami Dover Nachtsheim and Stephen Nachtsheim The Swanson Family Barbara and Steve Young $50,000 to $99,999 Mary Lee and Edward Cannizzaro Eileen and Christopher DiGiorgio Connie and Jerry Held Joanne Harrington and Lorry Lokey Betty and Gordon Moore Josie and Dan Perez Christine and Tim Ritchie $25,000 to $49,999 Anonymous Sonja and William Davidow Kathy and James Deichen Brendan Iribe Shannon and Joseph Kava Gloria Chen and John Kibarian Lori and Joe Fabris Barbara and John Glynn Robert Grimm Susan and Danâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;l Lewin Joyce Milligan Leo M. Shortino Family Foundation Cheryl and Lonnie Smith Jack Wheatley $10,000 to $24,999 Adobe Foundation Christina and James Barrese Penelope and Ronald Blake Jennifer and Charles Boynton Teresa Briggs Esther John and Aart de Geus Facebook Junior League of Palo Alto - Mid Peninsula Gay and William Krause Worth and Andrew Ludwick Marka and Bill May Kathleen and Smith McKeithen Karen and Mark McLaughlin Michael Petersen Bobbie and David Pratt Cathy and Roger J. Quinlan Renuka and Peter Relan Amy and Matthew Sapp Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner Mauria Finley and Greg Yap Sandy and Chris Yen $5,000 to $9,999 Association of Science and Technology Centers Renee and David Crawford The Abe Farag Family Foundation Mary Ellen and Michael E. Fox, Sr. Jennifer and Randall Krenzin Beverly and Kenneth Haughton Cathy and Kevin Kimball Jane and William Kind Anonymous Maria and Anthony Pappas Dan Rose Donna Dubinsky and Leonard Shustek Sparkfactor.org IN KIND Autodesk, Inc. DNA2.0, Inc. NetApp, Inc. NeuroSky, Inc. Nvidia Corporation Somaxis

INSPIRATIONS

Don’t blink

Or you might miss the reality-bending future of media

We’re having a hard time describing our latest exhibit. If you’re reading this in March we can tell you that you’ll be able to fly like a bird, sculpt planet-size creations in a virtual environment, and oil paint without a smock. But what if you’re picking this magazine up months from then? You could be in for something entirely different.

Spring 2017 | 15

The Techâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new exhibit is an ambitious experiment in immersive tech. New exhibit opens May 2017 thetech.org/rebootreality

16 | Made @ The Tech

INSPIRATIONS A bright-eyed 6-year-old tentatively draws a curved line on a touchscreen. She twists the bright blue line into a wing before tracing a green oval, then she flicks two pink antennae into place. She smiles as she spins and rotates her artwork, delighting in her new butterfly. A 50-year-old man, who insists he’s “not really a tech guy,” puts on a VR headset and takes a controller in each hand. When he looks down he sees a virtual palette holding an array of “paint.” He selects a color, then waves his hands to create swaths that hang in midair and animated vines pulsing with what looks like electricity. He steps through the design, adding flourishes here and there as he admires his handiwork. A teenager dons a headset to experience a 360-degree film taken from the view of a homeless person. He looks in every direction, soaking in an entirely new side to his hometown — the reality of poverty. The experience makes him feel overcome with empathy and determined to think of solutions to help his neighbors. These are just tastes of the many experiences visitors may have in Reboot Reality, an immersive media studio at The Tech. The new space will allow visitors of all ages to explore augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality — and their own power to create, and solve problems, with new technology. The Tech is teaming up with companies, researchers, artists and innovators from around the world to create a dynamic and ever-changing scene. “There are going to be things in Reboot Reality that you can’t see anywhere else,” said Dan Streelman, director

of exhibit development. “You’ll be met with a plethora of experiences from digital painting on state-of-the-art touchscreens to composing music to being transported to a whole new world in a VR headset.” The space will open in May, though visitors may be allowed in for sneak peeks earlier. Partners like Google, Adobe and HP have already been brought on board to bring their latest and greatest tech to the exhibit, but that’s not the only goal. “This won’t just be a place where people come in and experience new tech. It’s a place where people actually create with new technology and feel inspired to use their experience long after they leave,” said Prinda Wanakule, director of experience development and prototyping. “I’m really excited for the potential of AR, VR and mixed media to tell immersive stories that instill hope and empathy in how kids see the world.” People may also surprise themselves when creating with this new wave of digital media. For example, onscreen technology requires different spatial reasoning than sculpting something with your hands. So when entering an experience like Google Tilt Brush, don’t be surprised if you unlock an inner 3D artist who never had the right tools to flourish. “In some ways, mixed reality will level the playing field,” Wanakule said. “Many will find it more freeing than current CAD (computer assisted design) modeling where you have to exactly align two points to click. Silicon Valley can’t keep designing tech for fellow engineers or just those who can afford the technology. We hope Reboot Reality will help our community design tech for all.”

“There are going to be things in Reboot Reality that you can’t see anywhere else.” — Dan Streelman, director of exhibit development

Spring 2017 | 17

Flights of Fancy

Birdly, a first-of-its-kind flying simulator, is part of The Tech’s newest exhibit, Reboot Reality. Opening May 2017.

Here’s Max Rheiner’s greatest magic trick: He took a table, a fan, some paddles and a VR headset — and brought humanity’s oldest dream to life.

Rheiner, the head of the Master of Arts in Interaction Design program at the Zurich University of the Arts, is the inventor of Birdly, a virtual reality experience that captures the feeling of flight. Users lie on a table that tilts and dives. With their arms in wing-like paddles, they steer virtual avatars through the sky, exploring open expanses and cosmopolitan cityscapes. A fan controls the whoosh of a dive bomb and the gentle breeze of a leisurely glide.

Define This: Virtual Reality .

This year, virtual worlds will arrive at The Tech through a variety of VR experiences. Dan Streelman, director of exhibit development, defines some virtual reality terms that could leave your head spinning — just like soaring over skyscrapers or painting masterpieces in space.

18 | Made @ The Tech

And now Birdly has come to roost at The Tech, the first institution to offer Rheiner’s invention a forever home. It’s the kind of idea that could only be born with equal parts technology and art, so it’s no surprise to learn that Rheiner has a foot in both worlds. Made @ The Tech: When did you first become interested in virtual reality? Max Rheiner: It started in 1989 when I read “Neuromancer” by William Gibson, who coined the term cyberspace. From there I got really involved in thinking about virtual spaces. I had coded since I was a kid and had programmed games and graphics. Virtual reality was a perfect combination. VR was one of the reasons I went from electronics into art school in 1998.

Virtual reality “An experience that replaces your perceptions of the real world — usually with a headset (or, as it’s technically called, a head-mounted display) — and immerses you in a created world.”

Augmented reality “Augmented reality uses your phone or other devices to display images or information that enhance an experience in the real world. A navigation app that gives you real-time information on traffic, or a game — like Pokémon Go — that incorporates real-world locations are examples of AR.”

INSPIRATIONS Made: Why did you choose bird flight as the experience to capture with VR? Rheiner: Flying is humanity’s oldest dream, they say. For myself, I’ve done paragliding, and I’ve liked using aerial drones. I also teach interactive design at Zurich University of the Arts. These are interactions that are going over the normal boundaries of keyboard and mouse. I’m interested in virtual reality and full-body immersions. So flying for me was the ideal case, because flying as an experience would engage the entire body — not just the eyes. Made: Has your background combining science and art made you a better engineer and artist? Rheiner: As an engineer your perspective is, you have a problem, and you want to solve the problem. But in the arts, it’s sort of the opposite. You start with an idea, and the whole thing explodes and goes off in different directions. Sometimes in engineering you have to watch out that you don’t only think in the terms of problems and solutions. In art and design you think in a way of, what’s possible? Made: What were some of the design challenges with the Birdly project? Rheiner: There were really a lot of them. Flight simulators are the oldest simulators we have, going back to the first World War. Morton Helig’s Sensorama also had all of these kinds of elements, so the idea was not really new. But a challenge unique to Birdly was to morph the human anatomy to a bird and feel like you can fly very intuitively. It sounds simple, maybe. But design-wise you

have to find out the ergonomics. How do you lay on the table? What kind of movement makes you sick? What kind of action triggers the ideal feeling of the virtual reality experience? All the aspects on their own may not be overwhelming, but you have to address every element of the experience. I always bring this up to my students: Virtual reality is like a house of cards. You can do everything very nicely, and it may look great, but the weakest part destroys the whole card house. Made: What have been some of your favorite reactions from people who have experienced Birdly? Rheiner: It’s the reaction most people have when they get off the Birdly, they take off the glasses, and they just smile. They don’t rationalize the experience; they just enjoy it. People really smile and feel free. I talk with my colleagues: Why is it that everyone gets a smile? Does the act of flying make you happy? A subconscious memory of being free from all danger? Made: What is a possible application for VR that you are excited for? Rheiner: Education has high potential for virtual reality and augmented reality. When we talk about virtual reality, most of us think about entertainment and gaming. But education can profit massively, if you can have students learn more applied theoretical stuff in an environment that will capture their attention. As we’ve seen with Google Earth in VR, even geography becomes so much more interesting because it goes out of the dry, textbook environment and into the world.

Latency

Motion controls

Presence

“Latency is the time it takes for a display to update following an input, for example how fast the view in a headset changes after you move your head. Low latency tricks your brain into thinking the experience is real. A big reason VR is taking off now is that processing speed is allowing us to reliably hit a sub-20millisecond latency.”

“The Vive controllers and the Oculus Touch are examples of motion controls that seek to mimic your hands in the virtual space. The less motion controls feel like a controller and the more they feel like your hands, the more immersed you feel.”

“This is an important term for developers — it’s the feeling of existing in a virtual space. Art direction, environmental design and 3D audio play a big role in presence. It’s the equivalent of cinematography in film.”

Spring 2017 | 19

Try, try again Celebrating 30 years of Tech Challenges

They have traveled the surface of Mars and plunged into Antarctic lakes.

They have built gliders, rovers and all manner of devices. For three decades, the tens of thousands of students who take part in The Tech Challenge program have been served up a seemingly insurmountable problem, and their response?

“We got this.”

This year is a big milestone: 30 years of Tech Challenges! The Tech celebrates 30 years of problem-solving, tinkering,

reiterating, design thinking and on-the-ﬂy engineering.

We toast 30 years

of teamwork, cooperation, collaboration and awesome costumes.

Three cheers for 30 years of brilliance, determination, grit and bottomless creativity.

Whether you’ll be rocking the ravine for the ﬁrst time this year, or you’ve been with us since

that long-ago “crater problem” on Mars, thank you for helping

The Tech bring innovation to life.

30 years ago... Number of teams: 36. (In 2016, that number was 669!)

1988 Mars Crater Hole Problem Create a device that will travel across large gaps in Martian terrain.

Mars Traction Problem Make a device that will ﬁnd traction through dense surface material on Mars.

1989

65 teams — a 45% increase over ﬁrst year.

As participants were studying the soils of the Red Planet, NASA sent the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.

1990 Analysis of Martian Soil and Steep Incline Martian Terrain Build a device to analyze Martian soil and climb a steep incline.

Escape from Valles Marineris on Mars

1992 Martian Motion Build a Rover vehicle that can move through rough Martian terrain, collect a rock sample, and return the sample back to the landing site.

Satellite Model

Create a Mars Rover to escape a diﬃcult situation, jump a gap, resist soft sand and climb walls.

Design a device that will repair a drifting, rotating satellite by inserting a battery to restore its power.

1991

1993

NASA loses contact with the Mars Observer satellite. The Mars Exploration Program is launched to continue the study of the Red Planet.

Only 54 out of 187 teams included at least one girl, but an all-girls team won the grand prize. “It made them feel that yes, they can do it this,” a parent said. “They can compete in a male-dominated world."

Test trials were held in a construction area for The Tech’s new building on Market Street.

1994

1996

1998

Under-Ice Salvage Mission in Antarctica: A Nuclear Fishin’ Impossible

Climb a Treacherous Passageway Inside an Ancient Egyptian Pyramid

Climb an Elevated Bridge Cable and Prevent a Major Disaster

Help NASA retrieve a canister of nuclear waste from the bottom of an ice-covered Antarctic lake.

Design a device that ascends a passageway while negotiating obstacles inside an ancient Egyptian pyramid.

Take the Climb Design a lightweight rope-climbing device to ascend 15 feet to a rainforest tree canopy.

1995

Amazon and eBay are launched, forever changing how participants ﬁnd project supplies.

Land a Robotic Rover on Mars and Escape from an Ancient Crater Build a device that can accurately and safely crash-land onto a Martian ﬂood plain.

1997

Design a device that simulates an inspection mechanism that can traverse the bridge cable between two upright supports.

Rescue at Sea

“This was perhaps my favorite challenge of all time,” said Greg Brown, program founder. “The need to solve this problem is urgent. Five gallons of water weigh over 40 pounds. Children and women risk their lives collecting and transporting water.”

Olympic fever was everywhere with the Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

This challenge was based on a real-life eﬀort to remove invasive northern pike ﬁsh from Portola’s Lake Davis.

2000

2002

2004

2006

High Adventure in Space: Mission to Power Up a Satellite

Pass the Torch

Pick a Pike

Fight the Flood

Create a device that will pick up, move and set down a “torch.”

Design a device that can move ﬁsh from a lake to a collection area on shore.

Design a better way to ﬁll sandbags.

Canopy Climb

Battle the Blaze

Mars Crater Mission

Explore the Volcano

Design a device that can retrieve water (in a balloon) from a lake and deliver it to a ﬁre on the top of a ridge.

Build a device that can survive a 12-foot drop into a Martian crater, then exit the crater by ascending a 6-foot wall.

Create a device that can deliver a payload of up to six geological instruments (ping-pong balls) to the top of a volcano.

2005

2007

2009

Build a device that will restore power to a drifting, rotating satellite by inserting a battery.

Martian Crater Escape

Design a device to reach the top of a simulated swaying boat mast, trigger a sensor and safely return to the base of the mast.

Design a device that will climb the wall of a simulated crater on Mars.

Design a device that can climb a 15.5-foot-long rope and retrieve a ping-pong ball from a rainforest canopy.

1999

2001

2003

VIP guest at the main event: Steve Young.

83% of participants said The Tech Challenge made them more interested in a career in STEM.

Two new records: 669 teams, with more than 1,000 students from low-income communities.

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

Water Works

International Space Station Mission: Space Junk

Shake, Rattle and Rescue

Harnessing the Wind

Taking Flight

Create a device to deliver river water to a tank in a hilltop village. Only the ﬂow of the river can be used to generate power.

Design a solution to help rid the universe of space junk by getting an inoperative satellite to burn up upon re-entry.

Create a solution to help earthquake survivors stranded after a bridge collapse.

Harness the wind to move water to people who need it.

Build a glider to deliver supplies to a remote location.

The Great Paciﬁc Gyre

Asteroids Rock!

Building Excitement: Seismic Engineering in Action

Rock the Ravine

Design a device to collect trash from the ocean without harming marine life.

Create a solution to deploy scientiﬁc instruments from a landed spacecraft to an asteroid.

Build an earthquake-safe structure.

Design a device to help explorers cross an ice ﬁeld with multiple ravines.

2011

2013

2015

2017

Program eﬀorts to be more inclusive gain traction, with more than 500 participants from low-income communities.

Showcase: April 29-30 More information: thetech.org/techchallenge

Steering tech toward a greater purpose With a new program, The Tech doubles down on commitment to technology benefiting humanity.

22 | Made @ The Tech

INSPIRATIONS

“At The Tech and in this valley, we believe there is something wonderful and powerful in everyone. We value science. We value evidence. We do not fear facts, and we do not fear the future.” — Tim Ritchie, President and CEO of The Tech When David Homa first attended The Tech Awards in 2009 as a guest, he was struck by two things. “It was fascinating to see in person,” he remembers. “It’s one thing to read online, but to be in the hall and actually hear the laureates and see them in person — I was blown away.” His second thought: How can I get back next year? Homa contacted Dick King, co-founder of The Tech Awards, presented by Applied Materials. King arranged for the Los Gatos High School teacher to return at a discounted rate, and over the years Homa only grew more inspired.

Spring 2017 | 23

“Eventually it occurred to me that The Tech Awards are this amazing thing that I can get and bring back to my classroom,” he said. Since 2014 Homa has taught a social entrepreneurship class at his high school. Students form teams and spend the semester researching a problem and devising possible solutions. The class culminates with a 40-page report and presentation. “We could Skype with people around the world,” said Naomi Potts, a former student now attending the University of the Pacific. “We got to talk to people, have real human interaction, which was exciting. I loved being able to help people, and the class showed us that we could do something like this as a career.” Potts, along with four other students, had heard that girls in Kenya were missing as much as a quarter of school because of a lack of hygiene products during menstruation. They created a survey to give to both local middle schoolers and Kenyan students to better understand the needs of this audience, then they fundraised more than $1,000 and created hygiene kits that were sent to a girls’ school in Kenya. “I’m really thankful I took the class,” said Shannon McGrange, who was a team member with Potts. “It opened the world to me. I was not used to seeing impoverished areas, and I learned that from my town in Los Gatos I could help girls across the world succeed and get educated.”

“How do we inspire hope and empathy in the young minds from our own backyard? I think we do it at places like The Tech.” — Lesley Marincola, CEO of Angaza, Tech Awards laureate in 2012 and 2016 24 | Made @ The Tech

Celebrating 15 years of The Tech Awards At the 2016 gala at the San Jose Convention Center, The Tech Awards, presented by Applied Materials, honored six laureates, chosen from among our previous awardees, for the progress they’ve made since first being recognized. Each received a $50,000 unrestricted cash prize. In addition, PATH, a global nonprofit specializing in health innovation, received the third annual Laureate Impact Award for making significant progress toward solving major global problems.

The gala also featured a 14-minute documentary of The Tech Awards history, dating back to the first gala in 2001. The awards program has given more than $5 million in unrestricted cash prizes, supporting laureates who have gone on to improve the lives of more than 2.6 billion people. During the awards ceremony, we also announced the next evolution of the program: The Tech for Global Good.

“The Tech Awards prove that when good people employ their unique skills in the service of others, everyone can profit.”

— Tom Rogan, foreign policy columnist for National Review

INSPIRATIONS

A New Era

Great Minds @ The Tech

Since the first Tech Awards in 2001, the idea of social entrepreneurship has become much more prominent. As seen by teachers like Homa, even high school students are being inspired by and embracing the concept of positively impacting lives through technology.

The Tech for Global Good will host events throughout the year that celebrate innovation and inspire young people. One such event was held in November, when The Tech hosted the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s launch of the Moore Inventor Fellow program.

Today there is an opportunity for The Tech to play a more active role in the formation of social innovators in Silicon Valley. Through The Tech for Global Good program, The Tech will become a key local contributor to the pipeline of new social innovators. The Tech for Global Good will make the inspirational power of The Tech Awards a year-round presence at the museum. This includes a series of annual exhibits featuring the latest advances for addressing global problems; educational programs that incorporate social innovation; and events that celebrate technology and inspire young people.

Students from Bay Area high schools and colleges were the first to be introduced to five Moore Inventor Fellows (from left: Shane Ardo, Joanna Slusky, Xingjie Ni, Mona Jarrahi and Deji Akinwande).

Moore Inventor Fellows

The Tech Awards gala, a celebration of technology that benefits humanity, will now be held at The Tech itself. Gala night will also kick off a year of programs revolving around an annual theme. Beginning with Technology and Health in fall 2017, the themes will align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The programs will be anchored by exhibits and educational content. Each year, we’ll showcase five laureates who are making groundbreaking progress toward solving the world’s biggest problems. Educational programs will provide teachers with resources on how to develop empathy through engineering lessons. The Tech for Global Good is a natural evolution of The Tech Awards. With the growing technological capabilities of the next generation, it’s critical to provide a program to young people that inspires the uses of these resources to improve lives here and around the world.

The foundation’s new fellowship program recognizes early-career innovators at U.S. universities who demonstrate high potential to accelerate progress in scientific research, environmental conservation and patient care. Each fellow will receive $825,000 over three years to drive his or her invention forward, including $50,000 per year from their university. The Moore Foundation will invest nearly $34 million during the next 10 years to support 50 Moore Inventor Fellows.

“In each Tech Awards laureate we see an example of real progress, of technology benefiting humanity. The Tech is building on this program to create The Tech for Global Good. The idea is to harness its tremendous potential to reach young people and educators, to inspire problem-solving and cultivate the curiosity and determination that fuel innovation.” — James C. Morgan, former CEO of Applied Materials, co-founder of The Tech Awards Spring 2017 | 25

INNOVATIONS Proof that STEM learning can also be pure fun!

A rousing game of Hot Potato â&#x20AC;&#x201D; using a smart phone? A faster ice skate â&#x20AC;&#x201D; with a silvery CD as a blade? The Tech Studio is a place where imaginations can run wild as visitors are presented with a rotation of hands-on maker challenges that are, at bare minimum, tons of fun. But some have the potential to change the world.

26 | Made @ The Tech

INNOVATIONS

Sci App Fun The Science Journal app from Google measures and records experiments. Like, how loud is this rubber chicken?

Ninja Walk The maze is a tricky one, with big, blue blocks forming a winding path through bubble wrap, a curtain of bells and a sea of squawking rubber chickens.

After ninjas of all ages braved the path, they analyzed data from their journey on a graph that instantly plotted their loudest and quietest moments.

Welcome to the Ninja Walk.

In another Science Journal activity, visitors played High-Tech Hot Potato, tossing the smartphone in a yellow foam ball. They experimented with manipulating the data, trying to get as smooth a movement graph as possible. Many succeeded by rolling the ball gently on the floor.

This challenge â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a temporary construction in an open space on the Lower Level of The Tech â&#x20AC;&#x201D; was designed by the programs and prototyping team at The Tech, which partnered with Google for a demo of its new app, Science Journal. With Android phones strapped to their arms, guests were challenged to navigate the maze as quietly as possible while the app gathered data about light, sound and motion.

Match It

Want to play? Download the app, and visit our website to learn about activities and experiments you can try at home. And watch for it to pop up in the museum from time to time! Visit thetech.org/techstudio.

Hot Potato

Chicken Roll

Guests used Science Journal to document all kinds of movement and noise in these pop-up experiments. Spring 2017 | 27

INNOVATIONS

Stranger Than Friction The Tech and the Sharks have issued a challenge: Build a better skate. In an ultracool partnership with The Sharks Foundation and SAP, The Tech is proud to introduce Innovation on Ice, a new design challenge that explores the effect of material properties on friction. Guests will get a chance to build and test their own hockey skate blades, replacing the traditional steel blade with CDs, plastics, foams and other familiar materials. After attaching their blade to a hockey skate, guests can test the frictional properties of their blade material on our inclined track. The time required to slide down the track is precisely monitored and provides immediate feedback on skate speed. By iterating through multiple materials, guests can hone in on a low-friction design and shave seconds off their slide time.