Intel Museum Tourist Attraction
Computer Place in Silicon Valley is Kid Friendly Top Place to Visit
Dec 25, 2008
A family fun place to visit in Silicon Valley is the Intel Museum, in Santa Clara CA, with interactive exhibits enhanced with audio devices, human docents available to answer questions and a gift shop to buy Intel memorabilia.
The Intel Museum located on the main campus of Intel Corporation at 2200 Mission College Blvd, Santa Clara, California, is a must-see for visitors of all ages. This museum is free and open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Intel Corporation, a semiconductor company or integrated chip maker, is an icon of Silicon Valley and the building may be viewed by passing traffic on Highway 101 in the San Francisco bay area. The term “Silicon Valley” was actually nicknamed by a magazine writer because of all of the semiconductor companies which were started in the 1960’s and used silicon as the main ingredient to make chips.
Tips to Explore this Family Friendly Museum Attraction
A tip for individual families as they explore the Intel Museum is to pick up one of the audio devices at the main desk as they enter. These devices are available in the following languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, French, and Spanish.
Three new interactive exhibits at the Intel Museum, Digital Rain, Arti the Robot, and Get Digitized, should be on everyone’s list of things to do at this museum.
- Arti (short for Artificial Intelligence) the Robot, is a life-like robot which is near the entrance and greets all visitors. Arti will answer many questions and sometimes gives very amusing human-like answers in return to people.
- Digital Rain is fun for everyone to play in and catch the binary zero’s and one’s from computer technology. It is easy to practice spelling words in this unique computer language.
- People may get digitized and email images and postcards to families and friends.
Intel Corporation History
A visitor will follow the famous story of Intel Corporation throughout the museum. This “chip maker” high-tech company is one of the first start-up companies in Silicon Valley. Three founders from the famous “treacherous eight” of Fairchild Semiconductor, Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andrew Grove; left and created yet another start-up company, Intel Corporation, of their own.
As visitors enter the museum located on the main corporate campus of Santa Clara, they may see a picture (from 1960’s) of the first team of employees which worked in the “fabs” where the integrated circuits were made. This picture was taken before it was discovered these “fabs” where circuits were assembled should be “clean rooms” and employees should wear special clothing covering the entire body, known as “bunny suits,” to assemble these integrated circuits. Visitors have a chance to try on these same “bunny suits” and learn the process of how to make an integrated circuit.
Other computer exhibits include:
- Talking with the Giant Microprocessor and learn how computer chips process information
- Where do Wafers come from? A process which starts with sand and transitions into highly polished wafers
- Semconductor Science is a hands-on display which show what types of materials conduct electricity, how electrical switches work and how transistor technology has evolved
- Moore’s Law predictions from 1965 which became famous in this industry
- Learning Labs
- And many more!
Intel Museum is a fun, family friendly, interactive museum that might be a planned stop while on vacation in the San Francisco bay area. Or, groups may plan to spend a longer time and experience each of the exhibits in depth. The docent’s tours are very entertaining and easy to understand, not to technical for everyone.
Other family friendly attractions to visit nearby are the Tech Museum and In-Door Skydiving .
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