The Heart of High Tech Gets Its Own Museum

Despite its legendary reputation as the home of U.S. high technology, Silicon Valley has never been much of a tourist attraction. Most of the technology, after all, is hidden away in anonymous office parks, and only the billboards advertising obscure computer components reveal the area’s vocation.

But that will begin to change today with the opening of an innovative new museum in downtown San Jose that aims to strip away some of the mystery surrounding high-tech while also showcasing achievements of some of the region’s companies.

Named the Garage in honor of the modest buildings where many Silicon Valley companies such as Apple Computer and Hewlett-Packard were formed, the museum features a series of interactive exhibits that bring the visitor inside such processes as computer chip production, DNA fingerprinting and computer-aided engineering.

“There’s still a huge segment of the population that has not had access to technology,” said Del Yocam, former Apple Computer chief operating officer and now vice chairman of the Technology Center of Silicon Valley. The Garage is the first phase of the Technology Center, which hopes eventually to develop a $90-million technology museum and education center in downtown San Jose.

“We need to create an environment for learning science and technology,” said Yocam. “We have tremendous untapped potential here, and we need to reach people so we can begin to home-grow the technological talent.”

The 15,000-square-foot, $5-million museum has six separate areas focusing on robotics, computer chips, space exploration, biotechnology, high-tech bicycles and advanced materials.

The computer chip section features a demonstration clean room and a chip production line, with a detailed explanation of how each step of the process works. A large model of an Intel 486 microprocessor demonstrates, with lights, how the chip performs a calculation.

An exhibit on high-tech bicycles, many of which are designed and built in the area, allows the visitor to design a bike using a Hewlett-Packard engineering workstation. The space section features an interactive video exhibit, developed by Apple Computer, which allows one to “fly” over the surface of Mars, as represented by computer-enhanced photographs from space probes.

The biotechnology section discusses DNA and genetic engineering, including a balanced discussion of the ethical issues involved. And one of the activities developed for the school groups expected to frequent the Garage allows students to compare real DNA samples from an imaginary crime scene with those of suspects. This technique is increasingly used by law enforcement agencies.

Students in the laboratories will also be able to create real superconductors. An “information lounge” and an interactive media lab will allow visitors to play with video-equipped Macintosh computers, or log on to databases such as Prodigy and Dialogue.

“We’re trying to wake people up to the opportunity and challenges of contemporary technology,” said Technology Center President Peter Giles, who previously headed the Santa Clara Manufacturers Assn.

After a rocky start in 1984, the Technology Center has been able to wake up the local business community to the potential of the project. Some 300 local technology companies, along with the city of San Jose, contributed some $8 million of cash, equipment and employee time to put the exhibit together.

Along the way, the focus of the project changed somewhat, with less emphasis on the history of technology in Silicon Valley and more attention on creating effective educational programs.

Funding the next phase might prove more difficult, though Giles said the city has agreed to donate the land, finance a $30-million building and contribute $2 million a year in operating subsidies. The project has targeted 1995 for completion.

But in the meantime, visitors won’t have much trouble finding the Garage in downtown San Jose. The entrance is adorned with a 16-foot sculpture called “The Imaginative Chip,” featuring billiard balls rolling through an intricate, brightly colored maze.