Texas Instruments
In 1930, J. Clarence Karcher and Eugene McDermott founded Geophysical Service, an early provider of seismic exploration services to the petroleum industry. In 1939, the company reorganized as Coronado Corp., an oil company with Geophysical Service Inc (GSI), now as a subsidiary. On December 6, 1941, McDermott along with three other GSI employees, J. Erik Jonsson, Cecil H. Green, and H.B. Peacock purchased GSI. During World War II, GSI expanded their services to include electronics for the U.S. Army, Signal Corps, and the U.S. Navy. In 1951, the company changed its name to Texas Instruments, with GSI becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the new company.
James R. Biard
In the summer of 1958, Texas Instruments hired Jack Kilby (the inventor of the integrated circuit). According to Dr. Biard, during TI’s annual two-week summer shutdown, "At the time we were new, so we had to work while the others were on vacation. He would often come by and talk to us." Kilby held more than 60 U.S. patents, including two with Dr. Biard. Biard later stated, "I had the pleasure of being the co-inventor on two of his 60 patents. It was an honor to have my name with his." 
In 1959-60, Dr. Biard collaborated with other engineers at Texas Instruments on the design, construction, and patent of one of the first completely automatic transistor testing facilities known as SMART, the Sequential Mechanism for Automatic Recording and Testing. He also developed, and later patented, a low-frequency reactance amplifier with undetectable "flicker" noise for seismic applications.