The Wizards of Schenectady Series

The Wizards of Schenectady Series

A biographic television documentary series produced by the Edison Tech Center Select the title below to learn more about each documentary: Order on DVD
The Rice Legacy, Family of Pioneers – Period of History: 1875-1940
Watch the first modern documentary on the beginnings and growth of General Electric through the life of early founding father E.W. Rice Jr. and his family. E.W. helped develop electric arc light systems with legend Elihu Thomson. Together they went on to make other monumental moves such as the hiring of C.P. Steinmetz, the founding of the GE Research Lab, dealing with the first labor unions, and founding RCA. Martin Rice was a founder of modern corporate communications and public relations at GE. Chester W. Rice, E.W.’s son, led the world into a new age of scientific engineering with his development of the hydrogen filled condenser and the world’s first audio amplifiers and speakers.Voiceover by Joe Doolittle.
DVD Length: 1 hour. See promo here Order on DVD
Harold Chestnut, Pioneer in Automation – Period of History: 1917-2002 This is the story of the amazing life of Harold Chestnut – pioneer in automatic control systems. Control Engineering guides almost everything in our lives today. From rocket guidance to the thermostat in our houses control engineers have changed our world. Hal Chestnut wrote some of the early books on control and system engineering. See interviews with some of the world’s best control and systems engineers on both sides of the iron curtain who worked with Hal. See stories including: the B-29 automatic turret, the formation of IFAC, the rise of Cold War tensions, working with the Apollo program, the formation of the IEEE, Hal’s world peace initiative, and more. Voiceover by Ernie Tetrault
DVD Length: 1 hour. See promo here Order on DVD
Dr. C. Guy Suits and his Flying Machine – Period of History: 1930-1989 Chauncy Guy Suits loved flying his seaplane in the Adirondacks, but there is much more to this renaissance man. He was an engineer and later manager of the massive GE Research Lab during the middle of the 20th century. Learn about the reorganization of the lab, it’s move to Niskayuna, and the exciting developments which happened there in his time. Suits joined the lab in the 1930’s and worked with some of GE’s best early engineers. Voiceover by Ernie Tetrault.
DVD Length: 30 minutes. See sample section here Order on DVD
Carl H. Rosner, Pioneer in Superconductors – Period of History: 1940-2008 Carl Rosner worked on superconductors during the exciting post 1950’s period. He worked with GE’s magnet team, which developed the world’s first 100,000 gauss magnet. Later some from the group split to form Intermagnetics General. Intermagnetics General developed some of the world’s most advanced MRI’s in it’s time. They were involved in the planning of a Maglev Train from NYC to Boston. Follow the ups and downs of running a startup in this story. The first part of the documentary details Mr. Rosner’s incredible story of survival through the Holocaust at Buchenwald. Voiceover by Jack Aernecke. DVD Length: 42 minutes See sample section here Order on DVD Nancy D. Fitzroy – Mechanical Engineer – Period of History: 1949 – Today Nancy DeLoye Fitzroy has contributed to the world through her work in heat transfer technology. He has developed nuclear submarines, rockets, motors, and more. She was the first president in the history of the ASME and is honored worldwide as a top engineer in her field. This documentary will be available in June 2013. Voiceover by Cassandra Owen. DVD Length: 30 minutes See Promo Here
Introduction to the Wizards of Schenectady Series
Watch the short video below to learn what the series is about.     Wizards of Schenectady Credits