The Tech Museum Of Innovation - San Jose Tech Museum

The Tech Museum of Innovation, or simply The Tech, is a museum located in the heart of Silicon Valley, in downtown San Jose, California, United States. The Tech is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

History

Planning began in 1978 by members of the Junior League of Palo Alto and later assistance by the San Jose Junior League. The first 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m²) temporary exhibit finally opened in 1990 “The Garage” as it was named, opened in San Jose’s former convention center. On October 31, 1998, it opened a brand-new 132,000-square-foot (12,300 m²) facility, and has had 4,000,000 visitors.

The museum is composed of three floors, each with its own significance. The ground floor has the main entrance, a gift shop and cafe, the Imax theater, and a recreational area that is reserved for special events. The Tech Museum's architecture is the work of Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta.

Four major theme galleries fill the upper level and lower level of the museum: Communication, Exploration, Innovation and Life Tech. These galleries are constantly being revamped and changed to fit the theme movies and exhibits. On the lower level there is also a public piece of artwork titled Origin, which is inside a 45-foot-tall (14 m) cylinder.

The Tech Museum reflects its social context, capturing Silicon Valley's celebration of technology with a fascination with what the museum’s literature refers to as the “gizmos and gadgets” produced by Valley companies. Early reviews, however, criticized The Tech for failing to provide a coherent direction or message.

Exhibits

The Tech has many exhibits dealing with energy efficiency, customization, exploration, and genetics.

The museum of Innovation offers a new approach to viewing galleries from a wide variety of different media. The majority of these exhibits is interactive and allows the viewer to engage in the learning experience. The Tech also has joint partnerships with local attractions, ranging from jazz festivals to the Global Festival of Art.

Social robots

The Tech has an interactive exhibit where people can design and build robots.

Studio

The Tech created an open-to-the-public workshop space where the in-house prototypers build new exhibits.

Temporary exhibitions

On special occasions The Tech will rent out Parkside Hall from the city of San Jose to host special larger exhibits. In 2007, this hall was the home to the exhibit known as Body Worlds 2, which brought in over 280,000 guests. In winter of 2008, there was a special Leonardo da Vinci exhibit (called Leonardo: 500 Years into the Future) that displayed some of his inventions, findings, and pictures. It ended January 25, 2009, after a three-week extension.

The Tech formerly hosted Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination.

The Tech opened a new exhibition on Digital Music in March 2014, called REBOOT:music, including Tim Thompson's Space Palette.

The Tech Virtual

The Tech Virtual launched in December 2007. On June 4, 2008, the world's first museum exhibits developed using this open source method opened in the museum's own Virtual Test Zone gallery. The seven exhibits, all contributed under a Creative Commons license and prototyped in the virtual world of Second Life, became part of the museum's Art, Film, Music and Games exhibition. The Virtual Test Zone gallery itself is a prototype exhibit area that will consistently feature virtual-to-real-world exhibits on specific themes resulting from The Tech Virtual programs.

The Tech Awards

The Tech Awards is a program of the Tech wherein a yearly ceremony is held for individuals and organizations to get recognition for their technological contributions to improving the human condition.

The Tech Challenge

The Tech Challenge is a signature program of The Tech. It is a design challenge competition for students grades 5â€"12.

Over the past 26 years, The Tech Challenge had around 17,000 students compete by building devices to solve issues such as wildfires, fish removal, and landing on an asteroid.

Hackworth IMAX Dome Theater

The Hackworth IMAX Dome Theater (named after Mike and Joan Hackworth) shows mainstream movies as well as educational films. It is Northern California’s only domed IMAX Theater and can seat up to 280 people.