Letter from the Chairman
Thanks to the support of donors like you, it is time to celebrate another successful year at The Tech Museum of Innovation. I am pleased to note a few highlights of last year and to let you know what is coming next.
In spring 2014 we hosted REBOOT:music, featuring 16 installations by renowned artists that invited visitors to collaborate and explore the boundaries of music-making. This collection of imaginative, original musical instruments stirred our visitors’ creative spirits.
The 2014 Tech Challenge, Harnessing the Wind, was a resounding success with a record high of more than 2,000 participants. Students in grades 5–12 converged at The Tech to test their homemade devices — could their inventions use wind power to transport water from one location to another? Many did, and unique solutions were everywhere!
In the fall we opened Body Metrics, our new permanent exhibit, presented by Kaiser Permanente with technology sponsor NetApp. Featuring a three-piece Sensor Kit to record each visitor’s mental and physical states in real time, the exhibit focuses on wearable technology and how people can use big-data tech to improve their well-being. Conceived and developed by The Tech’s exhibits team, Body Metrics is a perfect example of where The Tech is headed: exhibits that focus as much on what visitors bring to the experience as on what the exhibit can teach them.
We want visitors to engage with exhibits that challenge them to find solutions to some of life’s great problems. Our new Cyber Detectives exhibit, sponsored by Palo Alto Networks, opening this summer, asks visitors to assume the role of a security professional who must protect data and privacy. Later in 2015 we’ll launch DIY Genetics, which focuses on the use of biotech for advances in food and medicine, and we’ve begun preliminary work on an exhibit focusing on sustainable living, both on Earth and potentially in space.
The Tech continues to evolve, striving to be the space that our community needs and deserves. Our Tech 3.0 fundraising campaign, with a goal of raising $60 million in the next several years, will help us transform the museum into a resource for innovation with an emphasis on design-challenge learning.
It’s an exciting time at The Tech, and your support is making all of this possible.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Chris DiGiorgio
Chairman, Board of Directors
