William Randoloh (Randy) Hiltpold

William Randolph Hiltpold (Randy) was born April 29, 1942 in Houston TX. He passed on to his heavenly Father on October 26, 2016 after a long battle with Multiple System Atrophy and Parkinson's.
He grew up in West Texas and after high school went to California for college. He began working for Autonetics in 1966. Autonetics, a division of North American Aviation was a pioneer in the new MOS semiconductor technology. They developed circuits for the first handheld calculator, first electronic organ and entertainment system for the Boeing 747. Randy was a lead designer responsible for creating input data for circuit implementation.
In 1972 Randy joined the research and development division of American Microsystems also a pioneer in semiconductor manufacturing. They emphasized low power complex integrated circuits for a variety of military, commercial and consumer applications. Randy designed the very first watch chip with an LCD display, giving AMI a 2-3 year lead over competition resulting in high volume production for Timex.
Randy also designed the first Read Only Memory Chip using VMOS technology, providing the fastest and most dense semiconductor memory at the time.
Randy joined the Institute for Technology Development in MS about 1984. As the group expanded with MSU grad engineers, it's successes in CAD technologies attracted the attention of California-based Cypress Semiconductor to create a dedicated design group in the Starkville Research Park. Randy was the manager leading 35 to 40 full-time engineers to develop advanced CAD tools. These advancements lead Cypress to create another design center in India of which Randy managed both centers and many of his engineers went on to leadership roles in California and India. Further, these events have clearly demonstrated how well the local MSU engineers can compete globally for which Randy was very proud.
Randy was a great fan of MSU's baseball team and never missed a College World Series in Omaha. He was active as a deacon at Grace Presbyterian Church for many years before moving to First Baptist Church.
In retirement Randy and Cassie loved traveling in their RV across the Great Plains to Montana every summer and Hoover, Alabama for the SEC baseball tournament.
He leaves behind his wife of 48 years Cassie Hiltpold, daughter Erin Sean Ashworth and husband Tom, Crestview Florida; son Mark David Hiltpold, Starkville; two grandchildren Thomas Franklin Ashworth III and Nicholas William Ashworth, his brother Steve and sister Marietta and a very large loving family.
Visitation will be from 1- 2pm November 21 at First Baptist Church of Starkville with a memorial service immediately following. Donations may be made to the Palmer Children's Home, Columbus Mississippi.