Corporate Promotion of Education

Torrence H. Robinson
Worldwide DSP University Program Manager
Texas Instruments Incorporated

By Garland L. Thompson

Torrence H. Robinson, manager of university-level digital signal processor (DSP) programs at Texas Instruments, since 1994, is a man on a mission: to make DSP skills a fundamental part of an engineering or computer-science education.

Beginning in 1995, Robinson's DSP and Analog University Challenge Competitions grew into a world-wide student design competition that has attracted more than 1,500 technology student entries. The TI Challenge provides $100,000 cash prizes to winning teams. That spread the message of progress using DSP designs far and wide, generating wide media coverage and bringing more than 800 new students into the contest.

The Infinity Project, developed by Robinson in collaboration with Southern Methodist University, delivers state-of-the-art technology curricula to high-school students. The project also trains and supports educators in assimilating the signal processing concepts that form the basis of the technology behind the Internet, wireless communications, bioengineering, and entertainment. The pilot phase reaches 500 students at 13 high schools in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Texas.

Through a TI DSP Elite Lab Program, Robinson has worked with 60 of the world's most distinguished electrical engineering programs. He has allocated more than $4.5 million in development tools to give students course work and hands-on experience.

Serving as a Leadership University Program manager, Robinson also helps TI's top technologists and managers build a collaborative research network with leading research institutions such as MIT, Rice University, and Georgia Tech. He plays a key role in Texas Instruments' annual educators conference, which brings together university faculty and researchers from third-party companies to share information.

Robinson was an organizing committee member and judge of the 1999 and 2000 Boosting Engineering Science and Technology (BEST) Robotics competitions, and he volunteers in TI's community involvement programs in Houston.

Garland L. Thompson is assistant managing editor of The Philadelphia Tribune and a member of the Black Engineer of the Year Awards Selection Panel. He can be reached at GThompson@ccgmag.com.