If someone says something can’t be done, Ann takes that as a challenge.

Over the past 12 years she’s been finding solutions for “impossible” problems by breaking issues down to simple components to clarify all the possible alternatives. She credits her colleagues and looking at problems in multiple dimensions for her success. Discussions with her co-workers exercise Ann’s mental acuity, excite her, push her and give her different perspectives.

Ann is part of the Analog electrostatic discharge (ESD) team and recently worked on a reliability and safety feature for an automotive electronic braking product. She gets particular satisfaction from knowing she helps bring the latest technology to improving road safety.

Noting that the fast-changing electronics world drives tight schedules, Ann believes the biggest challenge to innovation in the semiconductor industry today is product cycle times. Creativity requires some risk, and when a schedule is tight, there’s less room for risk. She knows that the best innovators always use good judgment based on the customer’s product cycle time needs.

Sensing we’re on the verge of an analog revolution, Ann sees TI playing an especially important role in medical and automotive connectivity innovations. In health care, for instance, sensors need to be able to sense and read back data involving issues such as blood analysis. But how do you protect an integrated circuit, or IC, from electrostatic discharge when it contacts a drop of blood?

ESD design is equally important in the automotive industry, where cars contain more electronics every year and even a small discharge can damage an integrated circuit. Which means there’s an even greater need there for innovators like Ann.