International Committee for the History of Technology

At that time, ICOHTEC provided a forum for scholars of the history of technology from both sides of the iron curtain.

The first President was Eugeniusz Olszewski (Poland), with Vice-Presidents S. V. Schuchardine (Soviet Union) and Melvin Kranzberg (USA), whose role in the foundation of ICOHTEC deserves a special mention.

[1] The first Secretary-General was Maurice Daumas (France); following his initiative the French government hosted the first independent ICOHTEC symposium at Pont-a-Mousson (1970).

[2] For the past several decades, ICOHTEC's principal activity has been an annual meeting,[3] where scholars from many countries and from many disciplines gather and share their work.

ICOHTECians met in Mexico City in 2001; in Beijing in 2005; in Victoria, British Columbia, in 2009; in Tel Aviv in 2015; and in Rio de Janeiro in 2017.

[8] “Energy, Technology and the Environment” has become a long-time subject, focused on different aspects of the field, which have been important for contemporary research.

Beside contributions to the general theme, sessions on the “Technology of the Body” and on “Robots and AI” offered new perspectives.

The society’s main task today is to stimulate and support research in the history of technology on different continents.