September 16, 2004

Len Trombetta, professor of engineering.  Photo by Jeff Shaw

An engineering professor by day and jazz saxophonist by night, Len Trombetta sounds as if he leads a double life.

Trombetta, a University of Houston electrical engineering professor, will simply admit to enjoying the best of two entirely different worlds.

“I’m very lucky,” Trombetta said. “There are few cities around the country where I can make a living doing something I love while pursuing artistic interests in my spare time.”

Trombetta arrived at UH 18 years ago when his wife, Gwen Anson, accepted a job in Houston. He toyed with the idea of pursuing music on a full-time basis, but decided to utilize his physics Ph.D. and become a professor.

Since joining the UH faculty, Trombetta has taught a variety of electronics courses. He specializes in classes related to solid-state devices, which explain how transistors work and describe the properties of semiconductors. Trombetta’s research interests focus on metal-oxide semiconductors (MOS), which are found in computer memory chips. Included in this research is MOS failure and materials analysis.

“What we do is make very simple versions of these devices and beat on them until they break,” he said. “We then find out what went wrong and how we can improve them.”

When he’s not on campus, Trombetta performs with area musicians including another professor of sorts, Houston jazz stalwart Conrad “Prof.” Johnson. As part of Johnson’s jazz orchestra, Trombetta plays the music he loves with a bonafide local music legend and former public school educator.

“He (Johnson) feels music is conducive to children’s learning habits,” Trombetta said. “He also feels that music develops children’s social skills. When you’re in a band, you have to get along and work together. I don’t think I appreciated that when I was kid, but it’s fair to say that my social skills were formed in part by my early musical experiences.”

Trombetta hopes that music has the same impact on his own children. His daughter, Anna, 10, sings and plays guitar and son, Tyler, 14, is following in his father’s footsteps as a saxophonist.

While time will tell if both Anna and Tyler will stick with their respective instruments, Trombetta’s interest in the sax continues to fuel his musical energies. Likewise, a penchant for electronics drives his research and teaching.

Electrical engineering and music might seem like an odd match, but for Trombetta, they serve as the perfect outlet for his intellectual energies.

“As an engineer and as a musician, I have to keep my mind sharp,” he said. “I have to think and be aware of what I am doing. Both help me do that, and they keep me mentally fit. In that regard, I’m able to offer my best performance whether it’s in the classroom or on stage.”’

Mike Emery
memery@central.uh.edu