IEEE’s Global Museum Brings Engineering History to You

Many IEEE members who collect historical engineering artifacts often offer them to the IEEE History and Heritage group, which includes the IEEE History Center, to display. To bring these artifacts to the public, the group created the IEEE Global Museum, which curates traveling exhibits for display at conferences and in libraries, universities, and other venues.The program educates people about how technological progress has unfolded over generations, and how engineers and researchers build on past achievements to benefit humanity.Curating the exhibits has been rewarding, says Daniel Jon Mitchell, director of the group’s heritage programs.“People tell me that they are genuinely moved by having history and artifacts explained to them in an accessible, intelligible way,” Mitchell says. “When people are moved and emotionally affected by what you’re doing, they’re going to remember that. And I think that’s part of the power of what we’re doing.”The most recent traveling e