•PROFESSIONAL  ACHIEVEMENT II•

M.S.E.E., Wright State University
M.E.E., Philips International Institute, Netherlands
B.S., Electronic Engineering, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Colombia

Few people have faced a path to their current success as challenging and circuitous as the one that Gabriel J. Gomez has taken on the road to his present role as Analog and Mixed-Signal Design Manager in the Embedded Processor Division of Texas Instruments.

Now leading high- performance design teams, driving analog and mixed-signal roadmaps and timelines, interfacing with customers and directly impacting process, quality, modeling, methodology and validation teams for one of the world’s leading creators of semi-conductors and integrated circuits, Mr. Gomez could scarcely have imagined his life today while growing up in Medellin, Columbia where he earned his B.S. degree in Electronic Engineering.

After graduation, he stayed on at the University as a lab instructor and electronic technician while spending all of the money he earned on applications to over 50 U.S.-based graduate schools seeking a full scholarship as well as admittance.  It was not an easily achieved goal, but after a year of trying he managed to find a scholarship sponsored by the electronics conglomerate Philips to study in Eindhoven, Netherlands at their International Institute.

In addition to earning his first master’s degree in Europe, Mr. Gomez married his Columbian girlfriend there, spent a 6-month practical training stint at Philips Medical Systems, and did his first work with integrated circuits. Since the terms of his scholarship required him to return to Columbia at the end of his studies, he and his wife Diana were soon working again in their home country and looking at greater opportunities in the U.S.

When a friend told him about an opportunity for a Graduate Research Assistantship working on microwaves at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, Mr. Gomez studied everything he could find about microwaves and landed the position. A lack of funds meant that a cargo freighter was the most economical method to reach the U.S., so he had the good fortune to emulate the route of many earlier immigrants sailing into New York harbor past the Statue of Liberty.

Scrimping and saving with extremely limited income for his growing family, Mr. Gomez moved on to Texas A&M to begin work on his Ph.D. after earning his second masters degree at Wright State. His work as a research assistant impressed one of his professors so much that he recommended him to the mixed-signal design department at Texas Instruments.

The rest — after a long and difficult journey — is history as Mr. Gomez climbed the ladder at TI from IC Design engineer through various positions to his latest role as manager of the MCU Analog Dallas Design Team and a designation as Emeritus Distinguished Member of Technical Staff. He has also managed to amass 11 conference papers, four journal papers, and six patents along the way. Not bad for boy from Medellin with big dreams.