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Ampex Museum Project <br />December 6, 2020 <br />Redwood City Council <br />cc: Hon. Ian Bain & Hon. Janet Borgens <br />1017 Middlefield Road <br />Redwood City, California 94063 <br />We in the Ampex Museum Project and our partners at the San Mateo County History Museum would like to thank <br />Council members Ian Bain and Janet Borgens for their tireless work on our behalf. Their leadership is helping us <br />reach local residents and people around the world with the amazing story of Ampex technical innovations and Silicon <br />Valley growth during the company's half -century in Redwood City. <br />Our group is comprised of former Ampex employees dedicated to documenting the company's history of products <br />and processes that revolutionized the audio, video and data industries, as well as incubating major companies like <br />Oracle, Dolby, and Atari, whose founders trace their start to working at the company. <br />Ampex technology even directly enabled us to see man's first steps on the moon! The company's start with Bing <br />Crosby's support played a major role in the development of entertainment technology and data recording. Ampex <br />continues today in Hayward as a subsidiary of Delta Information Systems headquartered in Pennsylvania, providing <br />ruggedized storage and computing solutions. The old Ampex site is now home to Stanford's Redwood City campus. <br />Our group is partnering with the San Mateo County History Museum to help launch their new "Innovators Gallery", <br />showing how Ampex and other area companies changed the world. We hope our physical and online exhibits will <br />inspire our young people to innovate and honor Ampex while generating support for the museum. Many ex -Ampex <br />employees and decendents still live in the area and continue to innovate and create the future. <br />We're fortunate that Ian Bain, whose father-in-law Bob Reed was an Ampex senior engineer, recognized with Janet <br />Borgens how the removal of the "AMPEX" sign on US 101 presented an opportunity for positive action. They <br />connected our Ampex group with Mitch Postel and Kaia Eakin at the county museum with the idea of making Ampex <br />a major part of their new Innovators Gallery. <br />Janet joined our project team, meeting with us regularly, challenging us to "think big", while setting <br />achievable goals. Ian and Janet were instrumental in working with city staff obtaining a challenge grant <br />from Redwood City for the Ampex exhibit in the new gallery, with part of the contribution from Stanford <br />development funds related to their new Redwood City campus on the former Ampex site. This grant was <br />matched by members of our group. <br />Having reached our first major funding milestone, our Ampex team is working with museum staff on detailed planning <br />for the Innovators exhibit. We're collecting artifacts featuring the company's accomplishments, along with developing <br />an accompanying website augmenting the physical display and featuring Redwood City's key role in this history. <br />Interactive video will enable in-person and online museum visitors to learn the story of Ampex innovations that have <br />so thoroughly impacted our lives. <br />Again, thanks to Ian and Janet for their many contributions to the Ampex Museum Project and to the city—models <br />for future city council members to follow, as Redwood City continues its role as a special place to work, live, innovate, <br />and thrive! <br />Best wishes, <br />The Ampex Museum Project Team <br />Charlie Steinberg, Mark Sanders, Bob Hagerty, Peter Hammar, Ken Parker, and Bob Wilson <br />cc: Team Members <br />Mitch Postel, President, San Mateo County History Museum <br />Kaia Eakin, Development, San Mateo History Museum <br />