LAWRENCE C. COTTON

2802 Hampton Ct., Richardson, TX 75082

lcotton@utdallas.edu    (214)538-7100

 

EDUCATION:         THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS, Richardson, TX

01/05 – Present          Electrical Engineering Ph.D. Program – Analog & Mixed Signal IC Design

·         Awarded GEM Ph.D. in Engineering Fellowship sponsored by Texas Instruments Inc.

 

01/01 – 08/02             SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, Carbondale, IL

                                 Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, August 03, 2002

                                 Area of specialization: Communications & Signal Processing, GPA: 3.9/4.0

·         Detection of Adaptive M-ary QAM using Neural Networks.

·         Developed MATLAB program for demonstration and analysis of multipulse LPC.

                                           

08/90 - 04/95              FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY, Tallahassee, FL

                                 Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, April 29, 1995

 

EXPERIENCE:       TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC, Dallas, TX

05/05 – 08/05             High Performance Analog – Audio Power Amplifiers Co-op

·         Designed fully differential op amp cell for the PWM block of a class-D audio amplifier.

·         Op amp cell was designed in TI’s LBC7 high performance analog process using Cadence IC design tools.

·         Key design objective was to improve the gain bandwidth product of the op amp cell without a significant increase in power consumption.

 

08/04 – 12/04             High Performance Analog – Digital Audio and Video Co-op

·         Developed test strategy for Class-D audio amplifiers. Designed PCB boards for test setups.

·         Evaluated class-D audio amplifier power stage/modulator combinations and identified improvement opportunities for future designs.

·         Setup and used automated test station which expedited amplifier evaluations.

 

06/04 – 08/04             TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, College Station, TX

                                 Graduate Assistant – Research Experiences for Undergraduates

·         Researched topics for seminar series in engineering ethics.

·         Helped to lead seminar discussions with program participants.

 

05/03 – 12/03             TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC, Dallas, TX

                                 High Performance Analog – Audio Power Amplifiers Co-op

·         Developed PC based automated characterization system for audio power amplifier ICs.

·         Designed PCB which provided easy interface between ICs and test equipment.

·         Software application developed using Visual Basic and National Instruments Measurement Studio that allowed the user to easily setup and run tests.

·         System tested with class AB and class D amplifier designs and significantly reduced the amount of time needed for device characterization.

 

09/01 – 05/02             SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, Carbondale, IL

                                 PC Lab Graduate Assistant - Monitored and maintained PC lab equipment for student use.

 

05/95 – 08/01             PROCTER & GAMBLE, Cape Girardeau, MO

09/00 – 08/01             Area 1 Process Improvement Manager

·         Led equipment & process change management system for process area 1 in a large manufacturing plant. Led team of 80+ technicians and process engineers.

·         Developed Reliability Engineering application using VBA that facilitated a 20% improvement in converter stops.

·         Implemented defect elimination program that yielded a 29% improvement in area 1 stops.

 

02/98 – 09/00             Line Manager

·         Managed all aspects of 2 production departments: safety, quality, reliability, & High Performance Work Systems (65 people - 8 production teams & 4 staff support). $30 million in capital assets. $40 million a year operation.

·         Implemented Autonomous Maintenance systems that decreased converter stops by 15%.

·         Led Department 24 to divisional benchmarks in process reliability and stops.

·         Assigned to lead Department 26 in Dec 98 to improve results. Achieved a 31% improvement in process reliability. $11,000 per month savings in material scrap.

 

05/95 - 02/98              Electrical Reliability Manager

·      Maintained diaper converting & packaging electrical systems utilizing 47 E&I technicians.

·      Managed parts failure analysis system and made improvements to the preventive maintenance systems that decreased unplanned downtime.

·      Led Analytical Troubleshooting Sessions that resulted in a 10.7% gain in electrical reliability.