Managing Cutting Edge Product Development

Abstract

This speech is a discussion of engineering in the real world and covers topics like the product development cycle, applying technical knowledge to set technical strategies,
applying the people know how to motivate people, and combining the two to succeed.

Speaker Biography

Duy-Loan T. Le came to America in 1975 with no father and a family of 9, most women and children. In 1976, she received her first recognition in the US as 'Citizen of the Month' from Kiwanis International Club. She graduated as Valedictorian from Alief Hastings High School at 16 in 1979 and three years later received her BSEE from University of Texas with High Honor. Duy-Loan obtained her MBA from University of Houston. In 1981, Houston Chronicle featured her as 'Scholastic Wonder', the University of Texas named her ‘Scholarship Winner Out Of The Ordinary', and Duy-Loan received commendation from The Office of The Ambassador of The Royal Netherlands for her scholastic achievement and her humanitarian effort in fund raising to aid the Vietnamese refugees.

In 1982, Duy-Loan started as a memory design engineer at the age of 19 with Texas Instruments (TI), a world wide company on the list of Fortune 500 and a leader in Digital Signal Processor and Analog. Duy-Loan managed world wide project teams and was responsible for bringing up TI memory devices, a multi-billion-product line, with joint venture partners on 3 continents for the ‘first’ time in TI’s history. She is currently the Digital Signal Processor (DSP) Advanced Technology Ramp Manager, managing development projects using cutting edge technology at Texas Instruments.

Duy-Loan's technical contributions at Texas Instruments were recognized with her election as a Member of Technical Staff in 1990, Senior Member of Technical Staff in 1993, the first woman at TI to be elected Distinguished Member of Technical Staff in 1997 and TI-Fellow in 1999 (Business VP equivalence). In 2002, Duy-Loan became the first Oriental and the first woman to get elected TI Senior Fellow in Texas Instruments’ 70+ years of history, joining 4 other men who hold this prestigious title TI world wide. Duy-Loan holds 20 patents with 9 pending applications, has published numerous papers, and has developed a 6 month technical training program which was fanned out to 7 plant sites in 5 different countries. She has been featured in IEEE (the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) SPECTRUM, Asian Enterprise trade journals, EE Times as TimesPeople, and numerous local and international newspapers. Duy-Loan is a registered Professional Engineer (PE) . Among her long list of accolades:

* Top 20 Houston Women in Technology from Association of Women in Computing
* Leadership Texas
* Women In Technology International (WITI) Hall of Fame
* Women on the Move with Congressional recognition for civic leadership from Texas Executive Women & Houston Chronicle
* Texas Salutes Duy-Loan for Making History Today from TV-Channel 11 as part of Asian-Pacific Heritage month
* Houston’s Leader from Center of Future for Houston & JPMorgan Chase
* National Technologist Of The Year from Women Of Color
* Director of Board of National Instruments
* Who’sWho of American Women
* Outstanding Young Graduate Award from University of Texas-Cockrell School of Engineering
* Outstanding Young Texas Exe Award from The University of Texas-Texas Exes

Duy-Loan's contributions to TI on the people side include chairing TI Houston Women Initiative, initiating several programs supporting career advancement for minorities such as ‘Nurturing Minority To The Technical Ladder’, 'Succession Planning for Female Fellows', Professional Lecture Series, DSP Boot camp for Managers/Supervisors and TI Houston Vietnamese Initiative. She serves as a key member to TI Houston Diversity Leadership Team and is a mentor for many TIers and well as non-TIers. TI honored her contributions at the annual Diversity Forum 'Fast Forward: Taking Diversity To The Next Level', profiling her for technical and people leadership: "Duy-Loan is truly a woman of vision who inspires those she works for and those she works with toward achieving excellence... Her integrity and work ethic are unmatched". Duy-Loan's service to the community includes:

* United Way, Vietnamese Culture & Science Association’s sponsored projects, and taught Junior Achievement for many years
* Director of Mona Foundation, promoting education and supporting social economic development in 10 countries
* Founding member & Advisory Board Director for Sunflower Mission, bringing educational assistance to Vietnam
* Founding member & Honorary Board Director for Science National Honor Society, promoting math and science at high schools
* ECE Visiting committee for The University of Texas Cockrell School of Engineering
* Serving on University of Texas (UT) Commission 125, shaping UT’s future for the next 25 years
* An invited speaker nationwide (Universities, IEEE, WITI, etc… to name a few)

Duy-Loan Le is married to her husband Tuan N. Dao for 20 years. She has two boys, Quy-Dan 9 and Quy-Don 6. She travels quite a bit in her business and has lived extended periods of time overseas. She enjoys deep sea fishing, reading, movie, classical music, painting, and playing poker. Duy-Loan also holds a black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do and has won several medals and trophies in the State of Texas.