For three African analog engineering students, Texas college life took getting used to. 

Not only did the students from Ghana pine for fufu, omo tuo and other spicy rice dishes, but could someone turn up the heat? The air-conditioned Dallas classrooms seemed chilly compared to those of the West African tropics.

Still, Richard Turkson, Charles Sekyiamah and Reza Abdullah wouldn't have missed this semester at Texas A&M University for the world. In 2007, they became the first TI-sponsored students from Africa to study analog engineering for a semester in the U.S. through TI's African Analog University Program.

"For me, it's an opportunity to learn from and work with world-class engineers at TI and A&M," said Turkson.

After the semester, they set out to finish their degrees at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana. The trio will then return to Texas to obtain advanced degrees at A&M, with the goal of eventually being hired to work as analog engineers at TI. In 2008, three more undergraduates will participate in the program as well.

"Working at TI is a dream come true for every engineering student interested in chip designing," said Sekyiamah. "It would certainly be a dream come true for me."

TI's African Analog University Program is part of TI's effort to recruit top analog engineering talent from around the globe as we turn more of our business toward analog chip production. TI pays for the students' undergraduate and graduate U.S. education, as well as living expenses. And although they are not required to work at TI upon graduation, the close relationship helps the company recruit them.

Analog chips are found in cell phones, MP3 players, auto accessories and other advanced consumer electronics. TI is pushing most of our production into analog designs, but hasn't found it easy to recruit analog chip designers.

"We are a global company and we need to attract the best analog talent, regardless of where they are located," said Dee Hunter, director of human resources for TI's Finance and Operations, who conceived the partnership.

The long-term goal is for TI to be the first semiconductor manufacturer to establish a significant presence in Africa, using Ghana as a gateway, said Tuli Dake, a Ghanaian analog design engineer in the Mixed Signal Automotive group.

According to a comparison of 2000 U.S. Census data by sociologists at the State University of New York at Albany, black immigrants from Africa averaged the highest educational attainment of any population group in the country, including whites and Asians.

"We know the potential talent is there; we just have to tap into it," Dake said.

The program's success will showcase the quality and depth of African educational systems and enable those schools' students to compete globally, added Ghanaian Benjamin Sarpong, SPG test engineering manager. 

Similar relationships are in place with universities in India, Europe and Asia. These programs make TI's diverse engineering employee base even more international.

TI is working with KNUST to align its curriculum for the analog world and install supporting software and the machines on which to run it. The university also receives some modest financial support and an opportunity to place its students in an international technology company.

Sarpong summed it up: "This program is a testament to the available technology talent if one thinks outside the box," he said.