I attended the 2025 Maker Faire in Vallejo, CA. I heard Steve Wozniak talk with Dale Dougherty, the founder of the Maker Faire’s, about what led Steve to create the Apple I computer, see picture below. I also saw many of the exhibits which were well attended by adults and children of all ages doing various projects ranging from fabrics to mechanics and electronics.
Hobbyists of all types were showing their projects, from amateur radio operators who fly weather balloons and may help supplement government program weather balloon flights that are being discontinued, to people making amazing props for Halloween and companies selling 3D printers and other fabrication equipment as well as kits for kids to make all types of things. Robots, especially, were well represented, the picture below shows some robots outside an area where battle-bots attacked each other.
I have only three more months as Past President of the IEEE before I am off the IEEE Board of Directors and move on to other things. Two things that I wanted to do in my roles of IEEE President Elect, President and Past President was to retain more of our younger members and let the world know about IEEE and its mission to advance technology for the benefit of humanity.
I think IEEE must be involved in STEM and STEAM activities of various sorts to increase awareness of who we are and to influence young people to see how learning technology enables them to do things and make a difference. Many professions are involved in various ways to allocate things that already exist. Those involved in technology can create things that never existed before, creating new wealth and opportunities.
Technology can be a way for people from disadvantaged backgrounds to make things better for themselves, their families and their communities, if we can provide cost effective ways for them to learn about the laws of nature and how they can use them to do useful things. I think that the IEEE can provide opportunities for kids and their families to understand technology that can lead to useful fulfilling careers.
Participating in Maker Faires, FIRST robotics and other such activities could feed this need and also show our value to our younger members, who themselves may become parents. Often STEM oriented activities include other STEM groups such as the FIRST Robotics exhibits with local teams at the Maker Faire, shown below.
The local IEEE San Francisco Bay area sections have been involved in various ways at previous local Maker Faires, for instance having a booth at the Faire and running a station for kids to learn to solder. This year iFixit and PCBWay sponsored the solder station, see below.
However, the local sections weren’t able to organize and participate in the 2025 Maker Faire. I hope that next year, when I am not an IEEE officer, I might be able to help the three local IEEE sections do activities at the 2026 Maker Faire and thus help to attract the next generation of technologies who advance technology for the benefit of humanity.
Maker Faire is a convention of do-it-yourself enthusiasts established by Make magazine in 2006. Participants come from a wide variety of interests, such as robotics, 3D printing, computers, arts and crafts, and hacker culture. The 2025 San Francisco Bay area Maker Faire was held on Mare Island near Vellejo, California.
The 2025 Maker Faire in the San Francisco Bay area is the sort of event that IEEE should engage with to attract the next generation of technologist, the people who will create the future.
