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WIZARDS OF SCHENECTADY SERIES
The Wizards of Schenectady Series is our flagship award winning series featuring biographic documentaries on the amazing life and achievements of local people whose contributions to technology changed the world. From domestic appliances to top secret war work, these are the men behind the technology. Their stories interweve with community places and events that connect with us all.

W001- WIZARDS OF SCHENECTADY - C. Guy Suits and his Flying Machine
Narrated by local news legends Jack Aernecke and Ernie Tetrault
Follow the amazing life of this pioneer as he worked with plasma technologies with Albert Hull, then moved on to become manager of the G.E. Research Lab. From artificial diamonds to building the G.E. Research lab in Niskayuna his time at GE spanned some incredible times. Suits was known for his vast assortment of hobbies which he mastered. Hobbies span from world travel to love of the outdoors. This video series features aerial footage of the Adirondacks, historical photos, and old films meticulously edited to the life story of Guy Suits.
2007 first place Electric City Film Fest. length 26 min. See promo on YouTube

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W002- WIZARDS OF SCHENECTADY - Carl Rosner - Pioneer in Superconductors
Narrated by Jack Aernecke
Carl Rosner escaped the Holocaust to come to America in 1955. He worked with other pioneers at the Research and Development lab to make the worlds most powerful superconducting magnets. He then led Intermagnetics General - a spin-off of General Electric to success as a prime manufacturer of MRI magnets. Now he continues his work with Magnetocardiography.
2008 first place Electric City Film Fest. length 43 min. See the promo on YouTube

W003- WIZARDS OF SCHENECTADY - Harold Chestnut - Control and Systems
Narrated by Ernie Tetrault
Hal Chestnut is the father of modern automatic control. From airplanes to powerplants Hal pioneered the theories and systems that run our world and provide a basis for today's electrical engineers work. He was a master leader, helping to create the IEEE in 1963, and run the International Federation of Automatic Control in the middle of the cold war. Later in life he devoted his life to find solutions for world peace and relaxing in his Lake Luzern retreat. See the promo on YouTube
Length 50 min est.

THE TECHSPLORER SERIES: Half hour interview shows with some of the people who made today's technology possible. This series is hosted by Capital Region TV legend Ernie Tetrault and Schenectady civic leader Nicholas C. Barber.

T001-T002 TECHSPLORER - Pier Abetti (two shows)
Engineer and son of Astronomer Giorgio Abetti talks about his youth in Florence growing up with house visitors like Marconi, Einstein, and Irving Langmuir. Pier also talks about his work designing high power power transformers and transmission lines. 2008

T003- TECHSPLORER - Roy Anderson
Roy started his career with tracking Sputnik from Crawford Hill outside of Rotterdam in the Schenectady Area. He talks about moving on to designing the first satellite navigation systems (pre-GPS), ATS Satellites, and starting mobile satellite communications before the cell phone. 2008

T004- TECHSPLORER - Peter Frischman
Subject: Superconductivity at General Electric in the 1960's, working on early computers in Arizona for General Electric. 2008

T005- TECHSPLORER - Ivar Giaever
Nobel Prize winner talks about coming to America from Norway and working at General Electric. 2007

T006- TECHSPLORER - Harold A. Gauper
Talks about work in controlling radio interference in an array of technology. 2008

T007- TECHSPLORER - Robert Hall
Talks about inventing the Semi-Conductor Laser and Microwave work. 2008

T009- TECHSPLORER - Howard Hart
Howard Heart discusses his work with Lexan Apollo space helmets, making a better MRI magnet, and Surveyor space mission experiments. 2008

T010- TECHSPLORER - Community Roundtable with Harry Apkarian. 2007
Discussion of local events and issues in downtown Schenectady. 2007

T011- TECHSPLORER - Walt Robb
Managing General Electric's Research Lab. 2007

T012-T013TECHSPLORER - Carl H. Rosner (two shows)
He was a pioneer in Superconducting magnets and led a spin-off of GE Intermagnetics into a market leader in MRI Magnet production. 2007

T014- TECHSPLORER - Roland Schmitt
Managing General Electric's Research and Development Laboratory. 2007

T015- TECHSPLORER - Austin Spang
Austin Spang helped design control systems for jet engines, and missile systems. Interview with Ernie Tetrault. 2008

T016- TECHSPLORER - Paul Swartz
Designing superconducting magnets for the MRI at Intermagnetics General. Co-founder of Intermagnetics. 2007

GE FAMILY ALBUM SERIES:
Featuring comprehensive sets of rare videos on technology and history from the engineers that made it happen.

G001 - History of Microwave and Radar (and Laser Technologies)
-Robert N. Hall gives a lecture on his work with radar, microwave, and invention of the semiconductor Laser - 1990's (length: 1 hr+)
-Robert N. Hall talks to the Edison Exploratorium about his life's work. 2008. (length: 1 hr 8 min.)
-Full interview about Chester W. Rice's early work with the radar around 1900. (Length: TBD)
-Video of C.W. Rice's home laboratory off of Union street before it was removed in 2008.


G002- History of Superconductivity
-The first item in this is a full interview with Mark G. Benz about working at GE in the
1960s with superconductivity. See the original magnet specimens saved from that time including the
first 100,000 Gauss magnetic coil. 2008 (length: 52 min.)

-Ivar Giaver gives a lecture on his work with Josephson Junctions. 1990s (length: 1 hr+)
-Carl H. Rosner talks about his work with early superconducting magnets. 2008 (length: 30 min.)

G003- History of Control Systems:
-IFAC 08 Seoul, Korea Interviews - Hal Chestnut Interviews
Featuring interviews with major Control Systems engineers of today about their memories of Harold Chestnut and IFAC in the 1950's-1980s.
(length: 4 hours) 2008
-Austin Spang talks about his work on control systems for the GE jet engines (length: 30 min.) 2008
-Wizards of Schenectady - Harold Chestnut - The life and work of Harold Chestnut featuring many interviews, photos, and graphic diagrams(see top of this page)2008 (length: 50 min approx.)


G004- History of the Gas Turbine
-A lecture on the development of the gas turbine from one of its original pioneers Bob Hendrickson, includes rare information not found in textbooks.(length: 1 hr 20m) 1999
-Internal GE video on testing the 7F Gas Turbine (length: 6 min.) 1990's
-Full interview with gas turbine pioneer Arnie Loft (TBD)

G005-Steve Isreal with Ernie Tetrault
Ernie Tetrault interviews Steve Isreal about the Schenectady County Airport 1990's
length: 27 min.

G006- Helen Briggs Interview
Helen talks about her experience working at General Electric as a ... 1990's
length: 22 min.

G007 - Ernie Tetrault - Ethel Cermack
Talks about William Cermack - pioneer of the ceramic insulator. 1990's
length: TBD

G008- GOSAM Memories
A collection of old films on all the GE greats: Langmuir, Coolidge, Steinmetz, Edison. Edited for the Gosam committee at General Electric in 1976
length: 20 min.

G009- Edison Visits Schenectady 1922 film
Titles of names and places added to this old film. 2008 See it on YouTube
length: 20 min.

G010- Principals of Electricity
An educational film about the basics of electricity. Made for General Electric by .... 1991
length: 20 min.

G011- AC and DC Electricity
Another educational film about the differences between AC and DC electricity 1990's
length: 30 min.

G012- Energy from the Atom
Educational video on how energy from the atom can be used to make energy. 1990's
length: 30 min.

The Charles Proteus Steinmetz Video Collection:
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G013- Steinmetz Day 2008 - Union College President Steve Ainlay talks about Steinmetz and
the history of Union College at the Edison Exploratorium.
length: 50 min.

G014- Steinmetz Lecture at Union College 2007 - The Annual Steinmetz Memorial Lecture Series feature guests prominent in their fields. This year features Tod Machover - Professor of Music and Media Technologies at MIT.
length: 1 hr +
-Steinmetz Lectures at Union College are available going back to the 1990's.

Steinmetz Speech - See it on YouTube
Famous Words of Steinmetz from a WGY 50th anniversary radio show. Mixed to film of Steinmetz himself.
length: 1 min.

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ORDER THESE GREAT EDUCATIONAL TOOLS AT:

Edison Exploratorium

tel: (518) 372-8425
president@edisonexploratorium.org

136 Broadway
Schenectady, NY 12305

ORDER THESE MATERIALS FOR YOUR LOCAL PUBLIC ACCESS STATION FROM:

Glenn Jarrett
Education materials distribution
tel: (315)351-0032

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Credits:
Volunteers and Technicians who have captured the history:

John Harnden - Camera, Editing, Audio, Producer (1970-current)
Michael Whelan - Editing, Camera, Audio, Producer, Writer, Graphics, Web Video(2007-current)
Steve Normandin - Technical consultation (2007-current)
Thurston Sack - host, historical consultation, research (2000-current)
Ernie Tetrault - host, co-producer (1999-current)
Nicholas C. Barber - host (2007,2008)
Jack Aernecke - voiceover (2007, 2008)
Frank Hackert - Camera, Audio, Editing (1999)
Jim Cifarelli - website work (2005-current)

Disclaimer:
These media works vary greatly in technical quality. Some works were converted from old film, others were taped on early forms of video tape technology, while others are of the sharpest digital quality. Audio quality varies depending where the event took place. Some events have been recorded in our controlled studio environment, while other events have been done in the field.



copyright 2008 Edison Exploratorium