Local high-tech businessman visits White House

By James L. Stroud, Jr.
Contributing Writer

Dr. Timothy Childs is a physicist, inventor and president of TLC Precision Wafer Technology and chair of the TLC Education Foundation, with both operations in Minneapolis. TLC Precision Wafer Technology, Inc. (TLC), founded in 1991, is a high-tech semiconductor manufacturing company located in North Minneapolis. TLC produces special microwave and millimeter wave electronic chips and radar systems for various federal government agencies and corporations worldwide.

Childs has over 20 patents and 50 other inventions used by the U.S. government that will never receive patents due to security risk to the United States. TLC introduced the O-Chip, a general-purpose oscillator, to the marketplace in 1996. The “O” Chip is used in radar, communication systems, automobiles, airplanes and spacecraft for the military, NASA and other commercial applications worldwide.

According to Childs, The TLC Foundation is helping to close the academic achievement gap for African American students in the Twin Cities through foundation-sponsored tutorial centers.
During the first week in April, Childs and his wife Lorraine received an unexpected invitation from President Obama to have dinner at the White House on April 15. According to Dr. Childs, the White House dinner included 65 others from across the country. They were invited to discuss education, technology, community involvement and entrepreneurship.

When Dr. Childs first saw the invite come via an email, he doubted the authenticity, began looking into it, and later discovered that it was very real.

“When I saw the topics for discussion, I said to Tim, all of them apply to you,” says Lorraine Childs.

Excited, pleasantly surprised and perplexed is the mix of emotions Dr. Timothy Childs (TC) expressed while sharing his White House experience during an interview with MSR a week after returning to the Twin Cities. The conversation was very extensive and covered various topics, including his talk with President Obama and staff, the TLC Education Foundation, closing the achievement gap for African American students in Minnesota, doing business internationally with the TLC O-Chip invention, and information about the future of technology in general and the automotive industry in particular, just for starters.

MSR: Did the invitation from the White House surprise you?

TC: Very much so.

MSR: How did you, the TLC Company and TLC Education Foundation come to the attention of President Obama and what made it all happen?

TC: In all honesty, all of the details I don’t know. We got it down to two different people from Minnesota who sent our name to the White House. So, I’m not sure.

MSR: It’s a mystery, and you didn’t ask the president?

TC: (laughing) I didn’t ask the president. I didn’t care. I was pinching myself and asking…“Am I here?”

MSR: So you originally thought it was a prank?

TC: Right. I always get a lot of emails and calls. I saw it come over the Internet. It was an invitation from the White House, on behalf of President Obama.

MSR: Okay.

TC: I said, “Ahh … yeah…right!”

MSR: So you thought it was a spam email.

TC: Exactly, but I said okay, let me print this out and take it over to [TLC

Education Foundation Director] Yolanda Friday and ask her to check on the validity of the invite.

At the end of the work day, Yolanda and I sat down and she said, “Well, I got a call from Governor Dayton’s office; a woman named Robin wants you to call her.”

MSR: That’s the governor’s assistant. Maybe Governor Dayton put in a good word to the president about your work?

TC: Maybe. I sure was impressed with what the governor did at the Twin Cities Economic Development Summit in North Minneapolis.

MSR: Well, he did keep his promise from March 30, 2011, that he would deliver a proposed written response a week later to address the problems and ideas he heard.

Have you read it yet?

TC: I have not finished reading it yet.

MSR: So, what about the part you have read? What are your thoughts?

TC: It even goes further than that. I gave a presentation at the Twin Cities Economic Summit in North Minneapolis. The next day, I got a call around 7 pm from the governor’s office. They said that they wanted a copy of the presentation, and they needed it “right now.” They were trying to get their response together so the governor could meet the timeline he promised.

MSR: Your presentation was part PowerPoint, video or what?

TC: It was a PowerPoint presentation. My response to her was that I probably would not get to a computer until about 9 or 10 pm that night. She says, “That’s fine. Get it done and send it in,” which lets you know that they were working very late at night.

MSR: Did you get it done that night?

TC: Yes. I got it done about 11 pm. I emailed it, they confirmed receipt of it, and they were rolling.

MSR: How long was the presentation?

TC: It was about 20 minutes.

In his presentation, Childs shares a story about an inventor who wanted to set up a manufacturing/distribution plant in Minnesota, which would have ultimately created more than a handful of jobs. However, like many Black inventors, getting the financial resources and backing is usually an issue. Childs assisted the man with his patent, but the company had to leave Minnesota for an opportunity in Michigan. The product is the Cheetah Machine.

The company now has two manufacturing plants and is doing well. Childs believes that Minnesota missed an opportunity to have a great new product manufacturer and many job opportunities. Childs also shared one about his firsthand issue with a $2 billion contract his company currently has but almost lost for the same reasons. He shared both stories with President Obama and his staff.

MSR: What was the president talking with you about?

TC: First, during our one-on-one [time] with him, he just wanted to apologize for the lack of community involvement he originally promised. The president talked a little about how the U.S. government technology is antiquated. President Obama wants to use the latest and the greatest in technology. He says their plan is to find the problem, find the solution, and worry about the politics later. Most of all, they want to reconnect with the people to address every need.

Next issue, MSR will continue talking with Dr. Timothy Childs about his White House visit, the TLC Education Foundation, the future of engineering and technology and resources available to would-be inventors.

James L. Stroud, Jr. welcomes reader responses to jlstroud@spokesman-recorder.com.