Texas Society of Professional Engineers Speech
2012
 Good Morning/Afternoon! (Get a Response!)
 Before I Start I Want to Make a Promise & Set an Expectation
 1st this will be unlike most speeches you have ever heard
 2nd you all have a role to play in this speech, so get ready
 My Topic for Today is:
 Engineering Can Be a Life Changing Career, But to be
a Truly “Great” Engineer, Engineering Can’t Just Be
a Career, It Must Be, Your Acceptance, of Your
Calling, to Change Lives!
 It has been said, “Success is a Journey, Not a Destination”
 Now all of you are already successful, in your own right
 In fact we are here to honor some exceptional engineers
 I congratulate all the engineer of year honorees, here today
 However as much as you have accomplished, I want to
challenge us all to do more
 So the question I want you to answer today is………
 (BTW here comes your 1st chance to actively participate)
 I want to know how many of you want to be truly “great”
engineers?
 Not just good, but truly “great” engineers!
 Raise your hand, if you want to be truly great!
 How many of you want our youth to be even more successful
than we are in this generation?
 Raise your hand, if you want our youth to be even more
successful, than we are now!
 If you truly want them to be more successful, let me hear
you say, Yes!
On Our Journey Today
 I will give you a view of my past, our present & the potentially
great future for our youth
 I will then explain to you what you personally need to do to
enable that great future for our youth
 I will give you a formula for success that you can pass on to our
youth and everyone else you meet
 I will give you some Lagniappe
 Raise your hand if you don’t know what Lagniappe is?
 I Will Explain to You the Difference Between “Good” and
“Great” in such a way that all your future discussions and
decisions will lead to “great” results and “great” rewards
 I will then give you my closing remarks
 I Promised I Would Tell You About My Past
o I grew up in Ethel, La., which is plantation country in the deep south
o I was born to two hardworking parents
o Their parents were sharecroppers on the Lane Plantation, in Ethel, La.
o My father was born in 1912, my was mother born in 1919
 I thank God my mother Ms. Mary is still with us at 92
o So my parents were the first generation in our family line
 To move off the plantation and a life of sharecropping
o I often wonder how far they could have gone in life
 If their passion and capacity for hard work
 Had been enabled with a little more education & opportunity
o I said all that to say I come from a very humble start in life
 Born into a home with no in-door plumbing or AC
 Blessed with great family & friends and faith
 But without a firm financial foundation
 I Did not Tell you These Things to Make you Feel Sad for Me
 Instead I want you to know me so you can truly understand my advice
 I would not change one thing in my life’s journey, even if I could
 For I am the incarnation of my parents faith & the summation of my
life experiences
 So As I Grew Up in La. in the 1960’s, I dreamed about my future
o What would I do, when I grew up?
o I was captivated in the 1960’s by the US NASA Space Program
o The idea that human’s could go to the moon was amazing to me
o The longest trip I had ever made was 20 miles to Baton Rouge!
 And for a child that 20 miles seemed to be crazy far away
 I remember often asking on the drive, “are we there yet?”
o Parents just think of how many times your child could ask you,
 “Are we there yet?” on a trip the moon
 So In the Month of My Birth, May 1961, Then President Kennedy
Challenged Our Nation
 To land a man on the moon & return them safely back to earth,
before the end of the decade
 This inspired a whole generation of Americans, of American
innovation and a great group of NASA Engineers
 Those pocket protector wearing, slide rule carrying, engineers
who often wore thick rimmed eyeglasses, sometimes held
together by tape, to accessorize their ensembles. Smart engineers
yes! Fashionable engineers, not so much!
 But think of all the never before solved technical problems
involved in a trip to the moon
 Those NASA engineers and the nation accepted their calling to be
great and it inspired many others, including a young man in
Ethel, La. named ALG Jr.
 In 1969 the crew of Apollo 11 made good on that challenge and
landed men on the moon and returned them safely back to earch
 Now just between you and me, & don’t tell my wife Gwen I told
you this, but I think she may still harbor some suspicions it was
all filmed on a sound stage in Hollywood
 But I believed engineers enabled the trip to the moon, so I started
to dream about becoming an engineer and took steps on faith
 So after HS, I went to Southern U. in BR La. With 2 dreams
o 1 - To be the best trumpet player ever in the SU Marching Band
o 2 - To become an electrical engineer(It sounded good)
o Now while matriculating at SU……
o I met much more talented trumpet players, than I would ever be
o This emphasized the importance and the criticality of getting my
electrical engineering degree, so I did, and I graduated in fall of 1983.
 I then joined Texas Instruments Inc as a test engineer in 1984
o I was given my 1st leadership role in 1986
o I went back to school(SMU) and got a MS in Engineering Management
o Since then I have traveled the world many times over
o Been promoted to VP, then Sr. VP to TI, Inc
o I have managed a business with over a $2B of yearly revenue
o I’ve led an org with >2000 people all around the world
o I now lead an eng org responsible for all of TI’s analog IC’s in prod
o Those IC’s accounted for ~$6B of TI’s >$13B in revenue in 2010
o So I have been incredibly blessed in my career journey
 So I am Here with you to Share with What I have Learned
 I came here today to celebrate with you and encourage you
 But I have also come to challenge you, remember the question is:
 Is Engineering Just a Career for You, Or Have You Accepted
Your Calling to Change Lives and to Be a Truly “Great”
Engineer?
 I Promised You a View of our Present
 Our Present Situation Can be Summarized by the Following Numbers
 In 2010 the average was 67,000 and 62,000
 But many of our youth don’t pursue these
 For example in 2010 50.8%, but only 18.2%
 For example in 2010 12% but only 6.3%
 And the same could be said for………
 Our Present Situation Can be Summarized by the Following Numbers
 In 2010 the average starting salary for an entry level BS Eng or
BSCS was $67,000 and $62,000 a year
 But many of our youth don’t pursue these career options
 In 2010, women were 50.8% of the US population, but only
18.2% of engineering degrees were awarded to women
 In 2010, blacks were 12% of the US population, but only 6.3%
of engineering degrees were awarded to Black Americans
 And the same could be said for……..
 So at Present Many of Our Youth are Missing Great Opportunities
 And our country and the world are missing out on their talent
 Economic competition is now won or lost on a global level and that
will be, even more the case, for our youth as the enter the workplace
 We Have Reached a Time in America Where, We No Longer Have
Any Talent to Waste, if We Aspire to Continue to Compete, and
Win, in the Global Economy of the Present and the Future.
 So This is our Present Situation
 Our country no longer turns out the most engineers every year
 And the quality gap is closing between US and foreign
engineering education
 So who is to blame?
 The government, politicians, the educational funding system?
 Yes, Yes and Yes!
 But more important than who is to blame, what is or who is the
answer?
 Well I’m glad you asked, because I have the answer
 1st the bad news is if we wait for the folks who let this happen,
to fix it, I don’t think it is going to be fixed in time
 But 2nd the great news is that we(you) are the answer!
 And
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I Will Now Tell You, What You Need to Do
To Insure a Future, that is Better, Than the Present…….
For our youth and all the generations that will follow us
Each of you, must enable, someone else, to follow in your path
You must leave your offices and go seek out our youth
 You must inspire the next generation of engineers
 You must let them see how cool it is, to be an engineer
 Thankfully I don’t see any pocket protectors, slide rules or thick
rimmed glasses held together by tape in the audience today
 Not only are you smart, but you look good too!
 When I first arrive I thought I had come to wrong place
 It looks more like the Vogue/GQ awards than the TSPE awards
 You must let them see your enthusiasm and your success
You must go to grade schools and high schools
You must go to poor inner city neighborhoods and to the rich suburbs
You must go to the fields and farms of our surrounding rural counties
Where you will find a young man or woman, like Arthur Leon
George Jr., who is waiting to be inspired by you
Then you must do it for another young person, & another, & another
 I Promised You Some Lagniappe
o I Promised to Define the Difference Between Good & Great
o But 1st Let Me Give you an Example of Lagniappe
 Let Me Explain to you the Difference Between Good and Great
o There are many ways to describe the difference
o Some say good is meeting expectations
 And great is exceeding those same expectations
o But I want to offer to you, a simpler more fundamental definition
o The difference between good and great is “And”
 The word “And” that literally separates good and great
o I believe good people, good engineers and good companies
 Accept “Or”, We can have either this “or” that
o But I believe great people, great engineers and great companies
 Accept No Less Than “And”
o Let me see if I can take you from the abstract to an actionable
assimilation, of what I like to call the “and” concept
o How often are you in a meeting or discussion when the question is:
 Do we want this or that, revenue or profit, riches or happiness
 A pair of Jimmy Choo’s or a new school uniform for your child
 Companies that make lots of money or companies that care about
their people
o If we define and confine the solution as only being one “or” the other
 I promise you, that is exactly the results you are going to get
o But who said, we can’t have both? Both this “and” that
o If we define that the solution must be both, “the and concept”
 And we are unwavering in our faith, it can be done
 Then this “and” that is exactly what we will get
 It is the essence of what we do in engineering everyday
 We invent solutions that meet “all” requirements
o I don’t think those NASA engineers were thinking “or”
o They were thinking “and” - land a man on the moon “and” return him
safely back to earth
o How often are you settling for “or” instead of aspiring to “and”?
o Master the “and” concept and reap great rewards and results
Now You Told Me That You Aspired to Be Great Engineers
o You raised your hand and said “Yes” you want our youth to be more
successful
o So my question for you today is, Will You Accept Your Calling?
o If you are truly committed to be “great engineer and you are willing do
the following, let me hear you say Yes.
o Will you seek out our youth in the grade schools and the high schools?
o Will you seek out our youth in the inner city and to the suburbs?
o Will you seek out our youth on the rural farms and fields of our
country side?
o Will you find one young person that you can personally inspire?
 So Why Do I Believe This Can Work?
o I Believe in All These Things, Because it Worked for Me and
Ultimately, Because I Have Great Faith and I Believe in All of You.
 But It Must Start Here and Now, with Each of Us
o Each of us can help inspire at least one person
o Each of us can give our youth the formula for great success
o A formula that works regardless of gender or your economic start in
life
 Education is the great equalizer
 Then aspiration is the great accelerator
 And effort is required to excel
 When a young person’s aspirations, have a foundation of
education and their effort exceeds their aspiration, they now have
the formula for great success
o Pass it on, pass on that formula to as many as possible
 Now Please Permit Me a Few Final Comments in Closing
o I was blessed to get more education than my parents
 I attended SU and SMU and it changed my life
o I was blessed to become a registered professional engineer in Tx.
o I am blessed to work for Texas Instruments Incorporated
o Our IC technology improves how people live and work everyday
o But I Want you to Know I am Also Blessed in my Personal Life
o One of my greatest blessings is my wife
o The Lovely & Beautiful Mrs. Gwen George
o She is truly a “Great” wife, not just a Good wife, I Said Yes is a
“Great” Wife
 Gwen, please stand, I wrote a poem for you on this Valentines Day
 Words are just not enough to express the pure passion and intense
emotions, that I feel for you
 Even the word love is inadequate, my feelings exceed every
definition of love, that I ever knew
 There is no diamond, emerald, silver or gold, that can come close
to matching the sparkle, in your exotic eyes
 And your smile is more beautiful, than the sun, the moon and all
the stars combined, in all the heavenly skies
 Your beauty is indescribable and your voice sounds sweeter than
any song, anyone has ever heard
 Your level of elegance, grace and faith are beyond the descriptive
capacity, of any known single word
 My words are not enough, but I humbly submit to you that are
absolutely the reason, that romance, never, ever goes out of style
 I love you and I thank God for You Every Day.
 This Concludes Our Journey Today
 You now know what you personally need to do to enable that
great future for our youth
 You now have a formula for success that you can pass on to our
youth and everyone else you meet
 You now understand what Lagniappe is and you now have some
 You now know the Difference Between “Good” & “Great”.
 I challenge the award winners and those who aspire to be great to
leave today committed to inspire at least one more person to
become a great engineer, then one more, then one more……..
 I Thank You All, May God Bless You All, and Bid You, Goodday!