The Golden Triangle

  The Golden Triangle

C.P. Ravikumar, Texas Instruments

I suspect that it is in the name “AU program,” short form for “Analog University Program.”   Or how else can I explain all the gold that I have witnessed within a span of three weeks?

You may be feeling jealous of me already and I don’t blame you, considering that gold prices (or should I say AU prices) have taken a dive skyward.  My Chemistry teacher will not be too happy with me. “It is Au, not AU,” she may have reprimanded me, but I will pretend that I did not hear her, in order to make my weak attempt at humor in connecting Analog University Program to AU.

On May 23, a team from TI University Program visited VIT University, Vellore (state of Tamil Nadu in India),  to participate in the inauguration of a two-week student internship program on Analog System Design. I wrote about it a couple of weeks ago, but what I did not mention is our visit to the Golden Temple for the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi. The temple itself is made of stone, but the entire structure is covered with pure gold.

* * *

Just a week later, on May 31, I had the opportunity to visit PVP Siddhartha College of Engineering in Vijayawada, located in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. In collaboration with TI India University program, the Department of Electronics and Communication of this college is holding a six-day faculty development program on Analog System Design.  Prof. Rajesh Kumar, Head of the Department, had sent two young members of his faculty to attend a faculty development program conducted in Texas Instruments, India (March, 2012.)  It was heartening to note that they are now holding an independent program on their own.

I had the opportunity to address about a 100 faculty members from the region on the importance of Analog System Design. I spoke about ways in which TI Analog University program is helping the academia in imparting analog education. The Analog System Lab Kit (ASLK) from Texas Instruments and the TI India Analog Design Contest are two ways towards the same goal. While the ASLK is useful in courses such as “Analog Integrated Circuits” or “Linear Integrated Circuits,” the contest throws a challenge at students for using TI’s 40,000+ analog ICs in creative ways to implement working prototypes of their designs.

“What is the golden connection?,” you might ask. Well, Prof. Rajesh Kumar had planned a visit to the Golden Temple of the Goddess Durga. Located on a small hill, the shrine has two temples, one for Goddess Durga and another for Lord Shiva. Curiously, it is only the temple of Goddress Durga that is covered with gold …

* * *

And a week later, on June 3, I visited the city of Amritsar, located in the state of Punjab, India. I was scheduled to inaugurate a three-day workshop on MSP430 and Analog System Design held at CT Institute of Technology, Jalandhar.  I also visited the National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, where Prof. Arun Khosla, Head of the Department of Electronics and Communication, facilitated my address to their Masters’s students on the topic of innovating with TI semiconductors. Later today, I am visiting Chitkara University to address their students on the topic of innovation using TI embedded processors and analog.

Prof. Manoj Kumar, the Group Director of CT group of institutions, organized a workshop (June 4-6) where 50 participants from the region are taking part.  While my address was on MSP430 mixed-signal processor from TI, Ankur Verma from TI spoke about TI’s analog products. A team from Cranes Software conducted the hands-on sessions on MSP430 development kits and ASLK.  In Chitkara University, Punjab, Prof. Rajnish Kumar, the Dean (Academic) has organized separate meetings with their faculty, undergraduate and postgraduate students. I am returning to Chitkara University (Himachal Pradesh campus) with Prof. Mark Yoder later this month to take part in a three-day hands-on workshop on “Embedded Linux on Beagleboard.”

You may have already recognized the golden connection. In Amritsar is the holy shrine for the followers of the Sikh religion. I had the chance to visit the golden temple of Amritsar.

* * *