In 1959, Cragon joined Texas Instruments, Incorporated in Dallas, Texas, to work on applying digital technology to develop processors for a variety of applications, including seismic data analysis. In 1961, he built the first digital computer (and similar digital central processing units) for use on rockets. He led the development of the TI-870 signal processor in the mid-1960s, as well as the construction of a transistorized computer. In 1965 he started the TI Advanced Scientific Computer (ASC), one of the first vector supercomputers. Its main problem was the cooling of the processor, but it was solved well enough for the ASC to be used until 1985. In the 1970s, he led the development of the TMS320 signal processor, which came out in 1983. The TMS320 and subsequent digital signal processors were revolutionary and had a significant impact in the field.[3]
University of Texas at Austin
After twenty-five years with Texas Instruments, Cragon left industry to teach in academia. As the Ernest Cockrell, Jr. Centennial Chair in Engineering in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin from 1984 to 1999, he advised and mentored numerous undergraduate, masters, and doctoral students. He taught courses in computer architecture and wrote three books on the subject.[4][5][6]