Texas Instruments names Ohio State University's Aaron Bonnell-Kangas winner of TI Innovation Challenge 2014

DALLAS, July 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NASDAQ: TXN) named Aaron Bonnell-Kangas from Ohio State University the overall winner of the seventh annual TI Innovation Challenge, a contest that showcases the inventive projects of today's aspiring engineers. Bonnell-Kangas' winning project was an improved battery interface module for an electric racing motorcycle.

The winning design featured seven TI components in its construction including: a battery pack protector, a performance microcontroller, a controller area network transceiver, a step-down voltage regulator, a digital isolator and two logic gates. The design, a 36-cell-capable lithium-ion battery monitoring circuit, was designed to be installed on the RW-2x, the second electric road racing motorcycle designed by a team called Buckeye Current. Bonnell-Kangas used TI parts to improve the power efficiency and battery management capabilities from the previous battery management module.  

During the 2013-14 school year, 120 accredited engineering colleges and universities from the U.S., Canada and Mexico participated in the TI Innovation Challenge, which attracted 810 participants. This year, the top three finalist teams presented their projects to Rich Templeton, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Texas Instruments, during the two-day contest finals in Dallas.

"Texas Instruments' Innovation Challenge brings together hundreds of bright minds and puts their skills to the test to tackle a real-world problem," said Steve Lyle, director, engineering workforce development and university marketing for Texas Instruments. "Aaron's project showed determination and creativity to improve upon an already impressive design. I'm thrilled to see that these young engineers aren't afraid of design challenges and I wish them well in their future endeavors."

TI Innovation Challenge Winners
Cash prizes were awarded to the top three winners: $10,000 for first place, $7,500 for second place, and $5,000 for third.

First Place (Chairman's Award)

• Ohio State University – Battery Interface Module
  • Aaron Bonnell-Kangas

Second Place

• Rice University – Motion Path Analysis Tool for Cerebral Palsy Patients
  • Shaurya Agarwal, Sonia Garcia, Allison Garza, Vivas Kumar and Andrew Schober

Third Place

• University of Florida – Universal Interface Cube
  • Daniel Collotte and Kevin Runda

Special congratulations to teams who placed in the top ten for the Innovation Challenge, which include:

• Oregon State University – Wearable HR Sensor: BLE Full Signal Transfer  
• Texas A&M University – The Modular Integrated Stackable Layer (MISL) System
• Universidada Autonoma Metropolitana – Portable Maternal and Fetal ECG System
• University of Arizona – Cerebrospinal Fluid Flow Measurement Sensor
• University of California, Davis – Laser Harp
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln – VelociCopter
• University of Texas at Dallas – Ebike

The 2015 TI Innovation Challenge will open on Monday, August 25 to eligible contestants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Visit www.ti.com/tiic-na for more details.

About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is a global semiconductor design and manufacturing company that develops analog ICs and embedded processors. By employing the world's brightest minds, TI creates innovations that shape the future of technology. TI is helping more than 100,000 customers transform the future, today. Learn more at www.ti.com.

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SOURCE Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI)