TI SocialThe latest on E2E and Social Media. We explore and explain the digital realm with added handy how-to explanations.https://e2e.ti.com/blogs_/archives/b/ticom_blog/atomTelligent Community (Build: 11.1.7.15705)2012-08-21T15:11:00ZJens-Michael Gross: engineer AND social media guru?https://e2e.ti.com/blogs_/archives/b/ticom_blog/posts/jens-michael-gross-engineer-and-social-media-guru2013-02-27T15:46:00Z2013-02-27T15:46:00Z<p></p>
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<p><strong><span style="font-size:xx-small;">Jens-Michael Gross, E2E Guru</span></strong></p>
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<p>If you search the channels you most likely associate with social media – Google+, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn – you won’t find Jens-Michael Gross anywhere. Yet, if you perform a Google search on Jens-Michael Gross, you’ll find eight of the 10, page-one results are Jens-Michael Gross on social media.</p>
<p>A click on those Google search results will bring you here, to <a href="http://www.ti.com/e2e">E2E</a>, a platform of forums and blogs where community members share knowledge, solve problems, and collaborate with fellow engineers. Like it or not, that is social media. But feel free to argue with the Merriam-Webster dictionary which defines social media as “…any form of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content.”</p>
<p>Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I’d like for you to meet E2E <a href="http://e2e.ti.com/members/1474664/default.aspx">Guru Jens-Michael Gross</a>. The Berlin, Germany-based Gross was the first E2E member to achieve Guru status, racking up over 123,000 points and contributing over 10,000 posts. He is primarily active on the <a href="http://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/msp430/f/166.aspx">MSP430</a> forum and <a href="http://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/msp430/f/166/p/209275/741382.aspx#741382">receives praise and thanks</a> from members across the community for his achievements. In 2012 alone, he contributed 4,000 posts answering fellow engineers’ questions.</p>
<p>That’s pretty social.</p>
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<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Guru meets Dallas</span></strong></span></p>
<p>As reported in the <a href="http://e2e.ti.com/group/helpcentral/b/weblog/archive/2013/02/19/announcing-jens-michael-gross-as-the-2012-e2e-amp-ep-contributor-of-the-year.aspx">Learn E2E</a> and the <a href="http://e2e.ti.com/group/maketheswitch/b/blog/archive/2013/02/05/ti-welcomes-msp430-e2e-guru-jens-michael-gross-to-dallas.aspx">Make the Switch</a> blogs on E2E, the community team honored Gross this month at the E2E Awards as the E2E Contributor of the year. He also received the EP (Embedded Processing) Contributor of the Year award for the third straight year.</p>
<p>We thought that anyone who helps out other community members at this level, because he finds it a “pleasure to solve riddles” is probably worth getting to know a little better. So we spent some time with Michael, as he likes to be called, during his recent visit to Texas Instruments headquarters in Dallas, Texas where he accepted his award and where he took the weekend to see some local sights.</p>
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<p><span style="font-size:xx-small;"><strong>Community Engagement Manager Blake Ethridge with Jens-Michael Gross at Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, TX.</strong></span></p>
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<p>While Michael’s English is more than passable, I did have to listen more carefully than usual to catch everything he had to say. But careful listening while we navigated four stories of exhibits in the new Perot Museum of Nature and Science or wandered around Southfork Ranch of Dallas television fame, also allowed me to get to know yet another engineer I respect and admire. (I’ve got a long list that starts with my Dad.)</p>
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<p><strong><span style="font-size:medium;color:#ff0000;">The full-time job</span></strong></p>
<p>Michael is employed by <a href="http://www.convia-gmbh.de/">Convia GmbH</a>, a company initially focused on home automation and alarm systems for apartments but now concentrating on energy efficiency systems. At one point, the company of then four people worked with a local electricity supplier who suggested Convia develop a device for energy metering and energy management. For this, Michael developed a PHP-based HTML front end and a small Linux/C++ -based database and data collector.</p>
<p>Michael left Convia in 2002 but returned in 2004, writing manuals for the home automation devices, as well as the first, PIC-based energy meters. In 2006, he inherited the company’s hardware and firmware development of the energy meters, now based on MSP430, and the ATMegal128-based access points. He was later involved in client application development, first in Java Script with Java applets, but now written in Flash/ActionScript. Convia now has 10 employees and a solid reputation in Germany, as well as throughout Europe.</p>
<p>“Our energy management system allows real-time supervision of energy (and other material) flow in a factory, analysis of possible energy savings, failure detection, and much more,” says Michael. “We also participate in joint-ventures for developing new technologies for niche markets, including working as consultants and providing sensor equipment and control electronics.”</p>
<p>Michael’s boss usually calls him in for a technical analysis and advice, but Michael also develops the electronics, if required. “They are,” he adds with a smile, “MSP430-based, of course.”</p>
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<p><span style="color:#ff0000;font-size:medium;"><b>"Your grandfather is dead and you are alive"</b></span></p>
<p>Over brunch Sunday morning with other TI-ers, I asked Michael more about what drives his success. Perhaps what impressed me the most were his thoughts about the value of varied perspectives, the willingness to admit you are wrong, and the futility of assuming that the way you have done things in the past is always the way you should continue to do them.</p>
<p> “People say, ‘Well, that is the way my grandfather did it.’ And I say ‘well, your grandfather is dead and you are alive.’”</p>
<p>Michael’s boss frequently calls him in for new projects Michael is completely unfamiliar with because he knows he will bring in an entirely different perspective.</p>
<p>In one instance, Michael’s manager brought him in to "sanity check" a proposed air conditioning system where the heat generated from the air conditioning of one building would power the air conditioning adjoining building. Michael knew nothing about the particular issue but did the calculations to prove that the idea didn't violate any of nature's laws and outlined the conditions under which it could be done. The result was a 30 to 50 percent increase in efficiency.</p>
<p>Looking at problems with a different perspective is also a trait Michael feels is frequently lacking in organizations. He calls this “company blindness” or the tendency by some companies to not do things differently because they are simply looking at it the same way they always have in the past. They are using only “one eye”.</p>
<p>“You know, our two eyes see things differently and yet we so frequently perceive things as flat,” said Michael over his first-ever plate of eggs Benedict. “Each eye sees objects from a slightly different viewpoint in order to give us depth perception. One can observe that depth perception or field of vision decreases with the use of just one eye.”</p>
<p>He feels that for companies to truly be successful, they need to make a conscious decision to do things differently today than they did yesterday. They need to see with both eyes and think twice about things and increase their “field of vision”.</p>
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<p><b><span style="color:#ff0000;font-size:medium;">Guru on the go</span><br /><br /></b>The trip to the airport for Michael’s return home included a brief discussion about Isaac Asimov (I was able to impress <i>him</i>, for once, given I met Asimov about 28 years ago), Michael’s various books on his Kindle, and Game of Thrones (he feels the show sticks pretty close to the books).</p>
<p>You may never find Michael on other social channels but we like to think he is going to stick around on E2E. After all, even he says he is “…just an addict. I started when I discovered E2E looking for an answer to a question about MSP430 and I can’t stop. “</p>
<p>We are glad to hear that. We imagine the thousands of members Michael has helped so far are pleased to hear that, as well. <br />Right?</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="https://e2e.ti.com/aggbug?PostID=664299&AppID=290&AppType=Weblog&ContentType=0" width="1" height="1">Aimee Kalnoskas1https://e2e.ti.com:443/members/1471063Congratulations Ki-Soo Lee - First TI Employee to Reach 100,000+ TI E2E Community Pointshttps://e2e.ti.com/blogs_/archives/b/ticom_blog/posts/congratulations-ki-soo-lee-first-ti-employee-to-reach-100-000-ti-e2e-community-points2012-11-06T14:43:00Z2012-11-06T14:43:00Z<p><a href="http://e2e.ti.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-02-90/0257.ki_2D00_soo_2D00_lee_2D00_100.png"><img src="http://e2e.ti.com/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x523/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-02-90/0257.ki_2D00_soo_2D00_lee_2D00_100.png" border="0" alt=" " /></a></p>
<p>Our congratulations go out today to the always helpful <a href="http://e2e.ti.com/support/development_tools/code_composer_studio/f/81.aspx">Code Composer Forum</a> moderator <a href="http://e2e.ti.com/members/1043327/default.aspx">Ki-Soo Lee</a> who has become the first TI'er to reach over 100,000 E2E points. Ki-Soo Lee was also the first TI Employee to reach Guru status. With over 6,000 posts on E2E there is a good chance if you have posted in the Code Composer Forum since its launch in August 2008 that Ki-Soo Lee has helped you out in some form. In addition to amassing over 6,000 posts he has also generated thousands of posts from users thanking him for his help (<a href="http://e2e.ti.com/search/default.aspx#q=thanks+ki&qn=&qe=&qa=&t=&g=&author=&sc=&as=0&c=false&pageSize=15&sort=date%2Bdesc&defaultAskForumId=0&pi24906=1">see here</a>). <strong>You can drop Ki-Soo Lee a note of thanks in the comments section below.</strong></p>
<p>Ki-Soo Lee loves helping on the E2E Community and is thankful for everyone he has been able to help out and as well to his teams that also support him on a daily basis.</p>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> The first overall person to reach 100,000+ points was <a href="http://e2e.ti.com/members/1474664/default.aspx">Jens-Michael Gross</a> in September.<br />You can see more E2E history and milestones (<a href="http://e2e.ti.com/group/helpcentral/w/e2e/2227.timeline-history-of-the-ti-e2e-community.aspx">here</a>).</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="https://e2e.ti.com/aggbug?PostID=663658&AppID=290&AppType=Weblog&ContentType=0" width="1" height="1">Blake TI Communityhttps://e2e.ti.com:443/members/1675916Farewell to Gene Frantzhttps://e2e.ti.com/blogs_/archives/b/ticom_blog/posts/farewell-to-gene-frantz2012-10-31T14:41:00Z2012-10-31T14:41:00Z<p>I am not sure if you have had a chance to Follow Gene Frantz on his <a href="http://e2e.ti.com/blogs_/b/on_the_fringe_with_gene_frantz/default.aspx" target="_parent">On the Fringe Blog</a>. If not, please check out the archives as they may prove inspirational. In his latest post, he announced his retirement…err…his announcement that he will take his next step in changing the world. You can read it <a href="http://e2e.ti.com/blogs_/b/on_the_fringe_with_gene_frantz/archive/2012/10/22/draft3.aspx" target="_parent">here</a>. </p>
<p>After reading that post, I thought back to when I first met Gene. I was a young sales Representative in Houston and needed some guidance on a special project. Our team was tasked at creating a Seminar Series focused on Low Power Processing. We needed inspiration so we interviewed Gene. He was insightful and talked excitedly about the upcoming Digital Convergence (back in 1999). Little did he know that he gave us a great blueprint on how to communicate a great message to customers. He also gladly helped me with a couple of customer Key Notes through the years, always inspiring our customers to invent the Next Big Thing. Every prep meeting that I had the pleasure of conducting with Gene was always the same:</p>
<p>Gene: “What do you want me to talk about?”</p>
<p>Chinh: “Anything you want.”</p>
<p>But I knew that he would talk about the future of Processing and the next Big Thing. He could conjecture all day about what Digital Signal Processors could do, especially if they were wearable, powered by body heat. The crowd was always mesmerized by Gene. I enjoy looking back at those customer events and how Gene helped shape all of our lives. I will always fondly remember Gene (as do many others) as the Father of DSP. That simple <a href="http://newscenter.ti.com/index.php?s=32902&item=885">Speak and Spell</a> (which I wish I would have kept) changed so much for all of us. It is amazing to think about how that small little invention has changed the world. I now look forward to Gene’s next venture of Changing the world! </p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="https://e2e.ti.com/aggbug?PostID=663608&AppID=290&AppType=Weblog&ContentType=0" width="1" height="1">Chinh Vuhttps://e2e.ti.com:443/members/583Igor Sherer - TI E2E Analog Community 2011 Contributor of the Yearhttps://e2e.ti.com/blogs_/archives/b/ticom_blog/posts/igor-sherer-ti-e2e-analog-community-2011-contributor-of-the-year2012-08-21T15:39:44Z2012-08-21T15:39:44Z<p><a href="http://e2e.ti.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-02-90/2543.Igor_5F00_sherer_5F00_200.jpg"><img src="http://e2e.ti.com/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-02-90/2543.Igor_5F00_sherer_5F00_200.jpg" border="0" alt=" " /></a></p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;color:#ff0000;"><strong>Announcing Igor Sherer as the TI E2E Analog Contributor of the Year!</strong></span></p>
<p><em><strong>"On behalf of the E2E Community Team, we would like to announce and congratulate Igor Sherer as being the TI E2E Analog Community 2011 Contributor of the Year. Their tireless efforts on the forums not only adds expert and valuable content to the forums that benefits countless TI customers, but also contributes to the success of the community overall." </strong></em>~ Aimee Kalnoskas, TI WW Manager and Community & Social Media</p>
<p>For 2011 Igor contributed nearly 800 posts especially in the Low Power RF forums that went towards helping out fellow E2E members. Their ongoing work and dedication in going above and beyond to help others especially in 2011 was an outstanding achievement! Already at the halfway point of 2012 Igor was close to 500 contributions on E2E.</p>
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<p><strong><span style="font-size:medium;color:#ff0000;">Igor Sherer on being the TI E2E Analog Contributor of the Year</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size:small;"><strong>Thoughts on being the TI E2E Analog Community 2011 Contributor of the Year?</strong></span></p>
<p><strong>Igor Sherer:</strong> Awesome! I really didn't expect this coming. :)</p>
<p><span><strong><br /><span style="font-size:small;">What would you describe as being your primary motivation for helping out others on E2E (with hundreds of posts and countless users that benefited from your help in 2011)?</span></strong></span></p>
<p><strong>Igor Sherer: </strong>It's part of my nature, I really like to help others, not only on E2E.</p>
<p><span><strong><br /><span style="font-size:small;">With nearly 800 posts in 2011 in the Low Power RF forums with a majority going towards helping others what common trends and challenges did you see?</span></strong></span></p>
<p><em><strong><strong>Igor Sherer:</strong><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">Trends-</span><br /></strong></em>New users are tend to not performing basic search for related topics before posting their question. A quick search in the forums can save a lot of precious time, since almost 90% of questions were asked, discussed and answered before (at least that is the situation on the Low Power RF forums).</p>
<p>I see a lot of posts where people asks for help, but somehow forget to mention crucial details that are mandatory for solving their issue/s.</p>
<p>For all those people, out there, who posts on E2E community and tend to "forget" about the details, please read the "<strong><a href="http://e2e.ti.com/blogs_/b/thesignal/archive/2012/07/23/clairvoyant-troubleshooting.aspx"><strong>Clairvoyant Troubleshooting</strong></a></strong>" by Bruce Trump, I think you can only benefit from this short article.</p>
<p><span style="color:#ff0000;"><em><strong>Challenges-</strong></em></span><br />Well, I don't know if it can be categorized under challenges, but to often it can be very challenging to find needed info and/or documentation related to TI products. This is especially true for people who are completely new to TI's products.</p>
<p><span><strong><br /><span style="font-size:small;">How has E2E helped you since you've joined?</span></strong></span></p>
<p><strong>Igor Sherer: </strong>Reading posts helps me quickly troubleshoot and get results with my own designs. People sharing their Ideas and I'm learning a lot from it.</p>
<hr style="height:1px;" /><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="https://e2e.ti.com/aggbug?PostID=663448&AppID=290&AppType=Weblog&ContentType=0" width="1" height="1">Blake TI Communityhttps://e2e.ti.com:443/members/1675916Jens-Michael Gross - TI E2E Community & TI E2E MCU 2011 Contributor of the Yearhttps://e2e.ti.com/blogs_/archives/b/ticom_blog/posts/jens-michael-gross-ti-e2e-community-amp-ti-e2e-mcu-2011-contributor-of-the-year2012-08-21T15:11:00Z2012-08-21T15:11:00Z<p><a href="http://e2e.ti.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-02-90/2337.JensMichaelGross.png"><img src="http://e2e.ti.com/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-02-90/2337.JensMichaelGross.png" border="0" alt=" " /></a></p>
<p><span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong><span style="font-size:medium;">Announcing Jens-Michael Gross as the TI E2E Community & TI E2E MCU 2011 Contributor of the Year!</span></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong><span style="font-size:medium;"><a href="http://e2e.ti.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-02-90/8611.Jensmichael_5F00_Gross.jpg"><img src="http://e2e.ti.com/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-02-90/8611.Jensmichael_5F00_Gross.jpg" border="0" alt=" " /></a><br /></span></strong></span></p>
<p><em><strong>"Jens-Michael's contributions and commitment to solving others challenges when using our products is an invaluable service to the MSP430 community of users such as yourself and to TI as a whole. He is a perfect example of what makes the E2E a great place- someone with an ability and willingness to share with other engineers facing the same challenges you have faced over the years in order to make one’s experience better." </strong></em>~ Zack Albus, Worldwide MSP430 Applications Manager</p>
<p>To say <a href="http://e2e.ti.com/members/1474664/default.aspx">Jens-Michael Gross</a> has been a top contributor on E2E would be an understatement. He has consistently gone out of his way and taken time to help users across the world on a regular basis in the <a href="http://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/msp43016-bit_ultra-low_power_mcus/f/166.aspx">MSP430 forums</a>. IN 2011 alone he had nearly 4,000 posts primarily aimed at helping other E2E users. With that type of outstanding effort we are proud to announce he is the 2011 TI E2E Community & TI E2E MCU 2011 Contributor of the Year! For 2012 he is already close to 3,000 posts with several months remaining!</p>
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<p><strong style="color:#ff0000;font-size:medium;">Jens-Michael Gross on being the TI E2E Community & TI E2E MCU 2011 Contributor of the Year</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size:small;"><strong>Thoughts on being the TI E2E™ Community & TI E2E MCU 2011 Contributor of the Year?</strong></span></p>
<p><strong>Jens-Michael:</strong> Oops! I did it again :)</p>
<p>Well, there are others who also do a good job for the community. But it feels good to get an award. And even better if getting it twice in a row.</p>
<p><strong><span><br /><span style="font-size:small;">What would you describe as being your primary motivation for helping out others on E2E (with thousands of posts and countless users that benefited from your help in 2011)?</span></span></strong></p>
<p><strong>Jens-Michael:</strong> I’m addicted to solving (technical) riddles. But I also have a certain dedication to teaching.</p>
<p><span><strong><br /><span style="font-size:small;">With nearly 4,000 posts in 2011 in the MSP430 forum with a majority going towards helping others what common trends and challenges did you see?</span></strong></span></p>
<p><strong>Jens-Michael:</strong> 4000? Wow! I definitely spent too much time online. Well, I’m a quick writer. My many typos tell that I type faster than I can read and spell-check it. J</p>
<p><span><strong><br /><span style="font-size:small;">What trends and challenges did you see in 2011 in the MSP430 forum?</span></strong></span></p>
<p><strong>Jens-Michael:</strong> The number of “I have a job to do, so give me the final code” requests (or rather demands) has increased. I tend to ignore them, but when I reply, these posts are of the ‘not going towards helping others’ type.</p>
<p>Also, the increasing number of significantly different MSPs makes it increasingly difficult to stay up-to-date. More different MSPs on one side and more abstraction (due to library usage and other things that hide what’s done) on the other side make it increasingly different to figure out where the problem is buried.</p>
<p>Also, it seems that the MSP family is increasingly used as a teaching platform at universities. Every now and then, several people pop up at the same time with the same questions. On the other hand, this also indicates that the impetus of solving tasks by themselves is decreasing in favor of doing a simple Google search and asking others for a complete solution. I wonder what will happen if those ‘others’ die out.</p>
<p><span><strong><br /><span style="font-size:small;">How has E2E helped you since you've joined?</span></strong></span></p>
<p><strong>Jens-Michael:</strong> For the very problem that brought me here, I had to figure out the solution by myself (resulting in a change in the users guide).</p>
<p>But since then, my participation in the community has given me lots of ideas for detail solutions or even complete projects.<br />And if I (or someone else) already solved a problem, it speeds up my own development when I come into the same situation with my own projects.</p>
<p>Also, I get informed about new devices. Seeing a new device in action (even though the action is usually buggy when it leads to a forum post) is way more informative than the typical newsletter article boasting about the newest, best, smallest, cheapest device on the market. Honestly, I rarely read the newsletters TI sends me. Too much noise.</p>
<hr style="height:1px;" /><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="https://e2e.ti.com/aggbug?PostID=663447&AppID=290&AppType=Weblog&ContentType=0" width="1" height="1">Blake TI Communityhttps://e2e.ti.com:443/members/1675916