About Us
The Edison Tech Center is an organization that celebrates the progression of technology and importance engineers have made in our society. The organization is keen to distinguish its roll in highlighting "engineering" vs "science". Our audience consists of young people interested in the engineering profession, and the general public hungry for a deeper understanding of history which goes beyond the ubiquitous "pop science" content.
History:
The Edison Tech Center was founded in 2001 by General Electric engineer John D. Harnden Jr. with a vision of a hands-on discovery center as well as supporting media content. The organization is located in a historic epicenter of industry and engineering at Schenectady, which is the birthplace of George Westinghouse's efforts and General Electric's alternating current power developments.
The organization has worked with grants from the IEEE, ASME, The Schenectady Foundation, General Electric and others to develop resources over the last 24 years. The organization occupies a special position in relation with MiSci (formally the The Schenectady Museum) as the Edison Tech Center is focused on a niche audience who have an interest in electrical and mechanical engineering.
The "Edison" name and logo:
The Edison Tech Center is named after Thomas Alva Edison due to his role as an internationally prominent engineer. The Edison Tech Center logo depicts electrons in orbit as the use of electricity by engineers of all types is a central theme in all of our work.
A Region built on Engineering:
Since 1795 Schenectady has attracted some of the world's greatest engineers: Edison, Westinghouse, Steinmetz, Langmuir... just to name a few. It is home to the General Electric Research Lab (GE Global Research Center), Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, Lockheed Martin, RPI, Union College, and the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. Interactive map of the region with engineering feats>
Learn about the engineering pioneers who helped improve our world through our artifacts, or via our online articles.
Outreach: Our YouTube channel reaches over 31,000 people per month (2025 figures), promoting engineering history.
Organization:
The Edison Tech Center was founded in 2001 in the State of New York under the name "Edison Exploratorium" and changed to the "Edison Steinmetz Center" briefly. It became known as the Edison Tech Center in 2009 and is not associated with the Edison Career and Technology High School in Rochester, NY. That school is informally referred to as the Edison Tech in some online publications. The organization has been a 501c3 non-profit for much of its life. Currently it is working on restoring that status and you can get updates on our News and Blog website here.