Wanda Gass
{{short description|American engineer and philanthropist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Wanda Gass
| birth_place = Dallas
| nationality = American
| field = Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering
| alma_mater = Duke University
Rice University
}}
Wanda Gass is an American engineer and philanthropist who helped develop the first commercially viable digital signal processor at Texas Instruments. She is also an advocate for girls and young women pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs.
Life
Gass was born in Dallas, Texas in 1956, the younger of two daughters.{{Cite web|url=http://www.witi.com/center/witimuseum/halloffame/150686/Wanda-Gass-Texas-Instruments-/|title=WITI - Women in Technology Hall of Fame - Wanda Gass, Texas Instruments|date=2003|website=www.witi.com|access-date=24 May 2016}}{{cite book |last=Hatch |first=Sybil |date=1 Jan 2006 |title=Changing Our World: True Stories of Women Engineers
|publisher=ASCE Publications |page=112 }} Citing her father as encouragement for her fledgling interest in engineering, Gass pursued membership in her high school's Explorer's Club.
Education
Gass attended Rice University and earned her BS in electrical engineering in 1978.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ece.rice.edu/af2015/wanda/|title=Design Connect Create: An Outreach Program to High School Women : Rice University Electrical and Computer Engineering|date=2015|website=www.ece.rice.edu|access-date=24 May 2016}} She then earned a MS in biomedical engineering from Duke University in 1980.
Career
Gass began work at Texas Instruments in 1980 as an electrical engineer. Gass was heavily involved in the development of Texas Instruments first commercially viable digital signal processor (DSP) and was eventually promoted to the position of technical fellow.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/print-edition/2011/09/02/community-hero-award.html|title=Wanda Gass of Texas Instruments named Tech Titans Community Hero Award Winner - Dallas Business Journal|date=2 September 2011|website=Dallas Business Journal|access-date=24 May 2016|url-access=registration }} Gass was one of the first women promoted into this role, which was the equivalent of a Vice President at Texas Instruments.{{Citation| author= Mary D'Ambrosio| title = 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers| journal = Working Mothers| volume = 23| issue = 9| date = Oct 2000| pages = 164}}
Gass is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).{{Cite web|url=http://sscs.ieee.org/membership/women-in-engineering-wie|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401002427/http://sscs.ieee.org/membership/women-in-engineering-wie|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 1, 2016|title=Women in Engineering (WIE) - IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society|date=2016|website=IEEE|access-date=24 May 2016}} She is also the president of Design Connect Create, a non-profit group aimed at increasing young women's participation in STEM fields.{{Cite web|url=http://www.designconnectcreate.org/about-us|title=About Us - Design Connect Create|date=2014|website=www.designconnectcreate.org|access-date=24 May 2016}}
{{Portal|Biography|Science}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://ethw.org/Oral-History:Wanda_Gass Wanda Gass, an oral history] (1998) by Frederik Nebeker, IEEE History Center, Hoboken, NJ, USA.
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Category:20th-century American engineers
Category:20th-century American philanthropists
Category:Duke University Pratt School of Engineering alumni
Category:Philanthropists from Texas
Category:Rice University alumni