Howard Phillips

Howard Phillips was one of those kids who just loved to take things apart and he was fascinated with anything electronic.  In high school he liked math and science courses more than other subjects.  It’s not that surprising he became an engineer!

Howard studied both electrical and nuclear engineering. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.  He worked for many years designing microcircuits – very small electrical units – for use on spacecraft, and then returned to become a professor at the University of North Carolina. He has since retired.

At UNC, Howard was very involved with a project designed to bring sight back to blind people.  It involved using a small microchip which can be implanted into the eye and used to get sight back for people who are losing that sense.

Sounds like something from your imagination, doesn’t it? It’s not!  In fact, what Howard and his work friends developed for the blind had already been successfully made for deaf people to bring back their sense of hearing.

While Howard’s teaching and work in a big university might seem really far away from the Choctaw Indian Reservation in Oklahoma, he never forgets where he comes from. He encourages young Aboriginal people to become involved in science and engineering, as the key to a successful future.