"Twas the night before Christmas"

You have to be a clever (Christmas) cookie to be an engineer at Texas Instruments, but some go above and beyond their skill sets to reach out into the literary domain as well.

One such ambitious individual is Richard Zarr, a TI technologist focused on high-speed signal and data path technology. In his spare time, Zarr has managed to re-engineer the lyrics to the popular holiday poem “’Twas the night before Christmas,” giving it some special nerdy flare.

TI even crafted an original graphic to complement his version of the old classic.

So, without further ado, here’s Zarr’s version, we hope you’ll get much seasonal cheer from it!

"Twas the night before Christmas" - From the voice of an engineer

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the fab, The equipment was whirring, even in the chem lab.
The yield charts were hung by the exit with care, And all of our steppers were in good repair.

Most employees had gone home and were snuggled up tight, With dreams of implanters that were powered up right, And along with their processes all shiny and new, They dreamed aggressive forecasts would surely come true.

When out in the clean room I heard such a clatter I sprang from my lab bench and fell over a ladder.
Away to the hall way I flew like a plane, Threw open the door and almost burst a vein.



Down with the equipment with lights all aglow, An object was moving by the computers below.
Who could it be in those extra-large cleanroom clothes, And how did he get in since security always knows?

He moved by the gear so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St Nick!
Faster than BiCMOS he worked hasty and neat, Wafers of devices for toys to complete.

He looked up and saw me hovering above,
And I saw his hand wave in an antistatic glove.
He vanished as quickly as he had appeared, With devices that Texas Instruments pioneered.

I heard a quick rumble on top of the roof, And knew in an instant that I had my proof, That TI silicon was in all his toys, For all the good girls and all the good boys.

I heard him whistle for his reindeer to fly, along with his booty of parts from TI.
As he flew to the north and clean out of sight, I heard him exclaim, "Merry Christmas, and to all a good night!"