Call for Innovation!
Part I - Top Ten Reasons for participating in Texas Instruments Innovation Challenge: India Analog Design Contest 2014
C.P. Ravikumar, Texas Instruments
The student walked towards the department's notice board, where a small crowd had gathered. They were peering at a new colorful poster about "Texas Instruments Innovation Challenge: India Analog Design Contest." There was a palpable excitement in the air.
"Should I enroll in this contest too?" the student wondered. Several questions raced through the student's mind. What does it mean to "innovate?" What skills are needed to take to participate in the contest? Am I expected to invent something? Will I be able to manage the contest-related work along with my academic load? How do I select team mates? What project should we select? What components will I need? Who will guide me through this process?
Thousands of Indian students may be going through a similar experience as I write this. We have been organizing the “Analog Design Contest” in India for four years in a row, and we are only too familiar with the frequently asked questions. We decided to help the students a little more this year, and that is the genesis of this blog series.
We decided to begin at the very beginning, a very good place to begin: Motivation! Why should you take part in Texas Instruments Innovation Challenge? Each year, we ask several participants, including winners of the contest, what prompted them to take part in our contest. Sagar has helped me summarize their answers in the table below. If you are that student who stopped by the notice board, wondering if the design contest is your cup of TI, the answer is yes! After you read the "Ten Reasons," I will recommend that you read the guidelines document which we have put together!
So here they are, ten practical reasons for which our past participants gave us a 
for our Analog Design Contest.
| I don’t have to pay any enrollment fee! TI provides to my team semiconductor components (ICs and hardware kits) free of cost! |
| The knowledge and experience of the contest will boost my resume – whether I am interested in a job or in higher studies! |
| TI provides a comprehensive “Semiconductor Tools Selection Guide” … this will make my job of selecting right TI components for my project a lot easier! |
| With about six months for the project, I and my team can do some serious innovation! I can balance my coursework with contest-related work! |
| I, my team members and my college get recognized by TI in various forums like contest website, social media etc. |
| TI will provide me opportunity to showcase/demonstrate my project in a summit that will be attended by industry professionals, educators and students of Indian engineering colleges across India. This will be a great learning experience for me! |
| After the contest is over, TI will allow me to patent my project idea, present it as my final year project, and even publish it in external forums. |
| I can improve my non-technical skills like writing a good project report; making a good project video, working in a team, working under deadlines, time management, communication skills etc . |
| It will be a lot of fun to work in a team! I am allowed to pick team mates from other departments! A team can have a mix of UG and PG students! |
| There are also loads of tangible benefits! 1. Participation certificates for all participants! 2. Cash Prizes for teams shortlisted in First Phase! 3. Opportunity to do internship in TI 4. Cash prizes for winners in Final Phase - Top Prize of $10,000, First Runner-up Prize of $5,000 and Second Runner-up prize of $2,000 5. Chance to win other prizes! |
I plan to cover several other aspects of participating in the Texas Instruments Innovation Challenge in the next part of the blog series. Meanwhile, I encourage you to start forming your team and start thinking about writing a proposal!