IEEE Global Museum

The IEEE Global Museum promotes an understanding of electrotechnology and its impact upon society by bringing museum-quality exhibits to IEEE members and the public. The IEEE History Center is establishing collaborations with local and national museums, private collectors, universities, corporations, and other organizations to curate traveling exhibits, from a single treasured artifact to a full collection, and install them at technology museums or IEEE conferences, facilities, and events around the world. For more information contact the Senior Historian Daniel Jon Mitchell at daniel.mitchell@ieee.org.

“How Far Can You Go? Edwin Howard Armstrong and the Birth of Our Wireless World” is the pilot exhibit of the Global Museum program. The exhibit made its debut at the IEEE Board Series held at the Sheraton Hotel Times Square in New York City in February 2023, in conjunction with the IEEE Foundation’s 50th anniversary reception. A joint project by Senior Historian Daniel Jon Mitchell and Outreach Historian Alex Magoun funded by an anonymous bequest, the exhibit told the story of the electrical engineer Edwin Howard Armstrong, one of the greatest contributors to the field of radio-electronics.

Thanks to generous loans from radio collectors, the exhibit included some of the earliest regenerative, superheterodyne and FM radios, as well as remarkable cultural artifacts from the new Martha and Jerry Simkin collection.

The artifacts and interpretation are currently on display at IEEE corporate headquarters in New York City where they can be seen by staff and visitors. They will remain there as “How Far Can You Go?” develops into an 800 sq.ft travelling exhibit.

“How Far Can You Go?” will be on display in technology museums throughout the United States, beginning in 2024 with the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology (SAMSAT) in Texas, USA, and the Pavek Museum in Minnesota, USA.

The IEEE Global Museum is supported by the IEEE Foundation, IEEE Life Members Committee, and John Impagliazzo.