Texas Instruments Vice President, Gregg Lowe, acted as the main speaker at the Industry Affiliates Program (IAP) annual conference. The IAP collaborates with the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

At the activity, 50 undergraduate students presented their research projects before a panel of representatives, from businesses participating in the IAP program.

“The presentations were really exceptional, they had a very high deep technical quality, but also were very practical in terms of how the innovations can be utilized,” noted Lowe, who in his speech emphasized, to the students, the importance of involvement in these types of projects.

In his opinion, what makes UPRM students so special is the “passion” with which they carry out their projects. “There seems to be at UPRM a very close bond between the professors and the advisors and the students, you know, and that close bond, I think, generates a lot of passion in the students about trying to make a difference, and it’s very distinct here at UPRM,” stated Lowe.

In fact, doctor Rogelio Palomera emphasized how important it is that students begin researching at the undergraduate level. Palomera is the mentor of students Aldo Briano and Pedro Escalona, who received the highest marks for their project at the annual conference.

“I’m very satisfied with my students’ work. We have noticed that many of the students who participate in undergraduate research develop techniques and abilities that make them very valuable to the industry, and help them turn out excellent work at the doctorate level. The benefits are immediate,” said Palomera.

This year’s conference was of greater importance, due to the fact that, this past September, the IAP celebrated its 20th anniversary, explained doctor Manuel Jiménez.

Texas Instruments has participated in the IAP program for more than a decade, in this time span, it has donated mare than $2 million to UPRM. In fact, TI owns numerous patents that began as projects in the IAP program.
“It’s a really wonderful relationship, we have a lot of projects that we work on together, which generate a lot of very interesting technology that we then use to help solve problems for our customers,” commented Lowe.

IAP began in 1988 with just three companies: IBM, Kodak, and Raytheon. Their original budget was $9 thousand, divided into an annual stipend of $3 thousand per company. Today there are eight companies involved in the program: ITT, TI, IBM, Raytheon, Sun Microsystems, Keithley Instruments, Verizons and MIT-Lincon Labs.

Gregg Lowe, the Vice President of Texas Instruments, was the principal speaker at the IAP annual meeting.

Dr. Lionel Orama, program coodinator, giving his speech to those present during the meeting.

Courtesy photos