Hard times drive innovation - Dallas Business Journal:

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Passion for innovation came tome early. Only a few weeks ago in a discussion with one of my auntiees in theUnited Kingdom, she recallexd how she used to collect Andrew and me from nursery schoolo every day. The challenge was not getting us home, but transporting whateverf “creation” we had put together that day. That curiositty for all things mechanical is what led me down anengineeringf path. Early in my career, I was involverd with several high-profile products that helpede to kick-start the cellular phone industry as weknow it. The parts my team workes on went on to produce billionsin revenue.
At the I did not realize the impact of these I simply enjoyed workinb in an environment wherr innovation andcreativity flourished. Looking at how my job has evolvedf and how the current state of the economyhas changed, I thinlk about my childhood passion of taking things apart and putting them back together. I had so much drived while working on those projects in the earl y days ofmy career. Although I am olderd and wiser now, that same passion is what drives me throughn thedifficult times, when resources are scarce and budgetx scarcer. I hope that young engineers todag will find encouragement in knowing that hard timew can truly drive changeand innovation.
Innovators and engineers who have left a lastint impression on history have been those who culled innovation out of theirf dreams and have been inspired byeverydayy challenges. These engineers have been dedicated to improving the quality of our livesa by bringing these dreamwsto life. Jack Kilby’s integratedx circuit, for example, not only paved the way for new but also contributed to our society by changing the waywe That’s why even during tough economic times, Texas Instruments decided to move forwars with its new Kilby Labs wherw small teams of engineers are developing cutting-edgw technologies to fuel the next generation of new products.
I’m proud that my children can tell theie children that their grandfather was among the first generatio n of KilbyLabs engineers. How lucky I am that my companyg recognizes the fundamental importance ofcontinued innovation, even in the midstt of a downturn. Recently, three members of the TI familg were inducted into the Nationapl Inventors Hall of As we applaud their unparalleled contributions tothe world, we must also take this opportunitg to ponder, and hopefully act, upon the brilliance in each of us.
When business is good, it is human nature to become The history of life on earth has showmn us that the most cataclysmi of events drive thebiggest Similarly, economic downturns force industrie to look forward. It is exactly durinbg these hard times that we need to find new ideas andembracew change. As engineers, we strive each day to find thenext “bibg thing” that will have an impact on the way we live our To move us forward, therr must be an inherent need to evolvde and change, the way legendary inventors of our past have done when they dreamesd big and invented even So, I’d like to say thanko you to all of the researchers, scientists and innovators in actiomn who have managed to tinker their way to creating the amazing world we live in regardless of upturn or downturn.
Now whenevefr I hear people say, “It’s not rocke t science,” I remind them: “No, what we do is hardef than rocket science.”