IEEE Circuits and Systems Magazine - Q3 2023 - 6

the silicon process to the back end of it. In other words,
innovation was moving from the wafer process to the
assembly and test functions. The second way I am seeing
a regeneration is the movement back towards other
methods of processing signals such as analog rather
than digital. But for the moment I'll not pursue this aspect
of regeneration further as it is still in the process
of re-emerging.
You should notice that I haven't answered the question
of what new emerging fields are in our future. Yes,
you have mentioned some of them. But let me take a different
approach by talking about an itch of which is in
the process of being scratched.
First let me define a term I use. I spent my career looking
for the " crazies " of the technical world who were
dreaming of the impossible. Before I talk about one of
them, let me make sure the term " crazy " is properly understood.
I give the title " crazy " to those who are asking
the questions for which there are no answers. The
simple answers to the questions are " its impossible, "
and an expert in the field can easily explain why. What
is great about the title of " crazy " is that decades later, it
is replaced with a new title of " visionary. "
The one that comes to mind is a guitar company by
the name of PRS Guitars. Paul Reed Smith came to TI
with some crazy DSP concepts that he and his father had
developed. As usual our TI three-person Ad Hoc team
listened and encouraged him and his team to pursue the
concepts. Their latest pursuit is, as I put it, the ability
to " talk to cancer cells. " It seems that cancer cells when
excited have a different voice (waveform) from healthy
cells. Paul and his team are working with researchers at
the Johns Hopkins medical school to further advance
the concepts. As usual, my excitement has been more
focused on the question of what non-medical signals
could be better understood using this technology as it
is obvious that their team is pursuing the medical side
of the breakthrough.
Question 6: Can you share with us your career journey
from being an engineer at Texas Instruments to becoming
a Principal Fellow at the company? Specifically, what
were some of the milestones, challenges, and opportunities
that led to your professional growth and development
over the years, and how did you manage to achieve
such a prestigious position?
Gene Frantz: I hired into TI at the end of my Military
enlistment in the Army. I thought that I was being hired
into TI's military organization having spent my time in
the Army's Communications Command. I was surprised
to hear that I was being hired into TI's Calculator Division.
I decided that I would take on the tasks no one else
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IEEE CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS MAGAZINE
wanted so I could grow my visibility in the company.
And I did grow my visibility by being handed more dirty
jobs as they came up. I took on several calculator product
lines to bring them into production and sustain them
in production. As production lines moved from Dallas
to Lubbock, I was more than willing to travel to sustain
the lines.
As I stated earlier, I attached myself to a friend who
was doing interesting new feasibility studies. That was
a connection that helped make it possible for me to become
part of the Speak & Spell™ development team
designing the system and later became the technical
program manager of the development program. Next,
when TI decided to move in a new direction in consumer
products, I moved from the Consumer Group to the
Semiconductor Group with a new business team doing
DSP devices. I became the application manager. Recognition
followed the success of the team of individuals I
was allowed to lead (manage?).
My personal explanation of why I was elected to be
TI's Principal Fellow had to do with the visibility I had
outside of TI. In fact, it seemed I had more visibility outside
of TI than I did inside of TI. All those start-up companies
who had been encouraged to pursue the impossible
were becoming successful companies and remembered
my encouragement. I was more than willing to talk to
magazine editors and market analysts about the direction
and size of the DSP market and the systems markets
that were emerging. This is my explanation of my election
to TI's principal fellow and may not be TI's exact
explanation. You might hear a different story from many
retired TI executives.
Question 7: You have consistently challenged yourself
throughout your career-after being a 39-year veteran
of Texas Instruments, you transitioned to mentoring
students on entrepreneurship of technology at Rice
University, and then co-founded Octavo Systems. What
drives you to continue pushing boundaries and leaving
a legacy in your career? What advice would you give to
younger generations of engineering students looking to
make an impact on their careers?
Gene Frantz: What drives me is the pursuit of the impossible.
I always explain that there are two definitions
of impossible: 1) it cannot be done and 2) it hasn't been
done yet. I prefer the second definition.
At Rice I mentor undergraduates and specifically
freshmen. There is a design project class that many
freshmen take, and I get to mentor a team or two each
semester. I explain to them that their best advantage
in designing their assigned project is they're not yet
having a clue of determining the correct engineering
THIRD QUARTER 2023
IEEE Circuits and Systems Magazine - Q3 2023

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