39th Design Automation Conference Professional Development Program Promotes EDA Education and Research

BOULDER, Colo.-April 1, 2002-Continuing its tradition of providing opportunity and support to scholars of the electronic design automation (EDA) field, the Design Automation Conference (DAC) today announced it is awarding more than $313,000 in professional development funds, in conjunction with several sponsoring societies. These funds will be awarded at the 39th annual DAC, June 10-14, in New Orleans, to graduate and undergraduate students seeking further academic studies and careers in EDA. This year's program brings the total amount awarded over the past nine years to almost $2.5 million.

DAC is the premier event in the electronic design industry, uniting EDA, silicon strategists, and embedded systems developers for collaboration on tools and methodologies for effective system and IC design. The DAC Professional Fund supports five different programs, including the P. O. Pistilli ACSEE Scholarship Program, the University Booth Program, the Young Student Support Program, the DAC Graduate Scholarships, and the Student Design Contest. Additionally, DAC endorses the ACM Special Interest Group on Design Automation Ph.D. Forum, co-located with DAC. All of these programs serve a broad range of students in the computer science and electronic engineering professions.

"As part of DAC's commitment to education, we offer opportunities and rewards to those seeking to advance in the field of electronic design engineering," said Jan Rabaey, chair of the DAC Professional Fund. "In difficult economic times, encouraging education and fostering advancement are the most valuable investments we can make for the growth and future of the EDA industry."

The P. O. Pistilli ACSEE Scholarship Program is funded by DAC and the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society and aims to promote advancement in electrical engineering and computer science for graduating high school seniors and undergraduate students from under-represented groups, including women, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and the physically challenged. The scholarships are awarded annually in $4,000 increments with a maximum of $20,000 per student. The award is named for Pat Pistilli, one of the founders of DAC and the scholarship program, who devoted more than three decades of service to the design automation industry. This year, DAC and the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society will award a total of seven scholarships. Additional information is available at http://doc.union.edu/acsee.html.

The University Booth Program provides an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to demonstrate research and instructional-related designs, tools, and materials on the DAC exhibit floor. The booth makes available both computer equipment and a high-speed Internet connection for the students' demonstrations. This program also provides travel grants for DAC attendance to participating students who require financial aid. This year's program, sponsored by DAC, the ACM Special Interest Group on Design Automation and the EDA Consortium, expects to award $20,000 to assist with travel expenses. Additional information can be found online at http://users.ece.gatech.edu/limsk/ubooth/.

The Young Student Support Program encourages advanced undergraduate students and first-year graduate students to pursue graduate studies in the EDA field or to join the profession upon graduation. Students are introduced to the design automation profession through meetings, tours, and associations with a mentor who is an advanced graduate student already working in the area. This award provides student registration fees, a banquet ticket, and helps cover travel expenses. This year's program, sponsored by DAC, the ACM Special Interest Group on Design Automation and the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society, expects to give away $50,000. More information on this scholarship can be found at http://atrak.usc.edu/%7Estudprog/.

The DAC Graduate Scholarships support graduate students' research and study of EDA and circuit design. Four $24,000 scholarships, two sponsored by DAC and two sponsored by the IEEE, will be awarded based on the academic credentials of the student and research advisor, as well as on the quality of the research proposal. Preference is given to universities establishing new programs and to students with financial need. Additional information can be found at http://www.dac.com/39th/scholar.html.

The Student Design Contest, sponsored by numerous electronics companies, promotes excellence in the design of electronic systems. The contest allows entries of both integrated circuits and electronic systems and will award more than $20,000 in recognition of undergraduate and graduate students who demonstrate excellence in the development of operational and conceptual designs. Additional information can be found at http://www.dac.com/39th/studcon.html.

In addition to the professional development funds and awards, DAC is proud to endorse the ACM Special Interest Group for Design Automation (SIGDA) Ph.D. Forum, co-located with DAC. In its fifth year, the Ph.D. Forum is a poster session hosted by SIGDA for Ph.D. students to present and discuss their thesis work with people in the design automation community. The forum is open to all members of the design automation community free of charge and DAC registration is not required in order to attend. This year's forum takes place Tuesday, June 11, 2002, from 6:00-8:30 p.m. at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Further information on SIGDA and the Ph.D. Forum can be found at http://www.sigda.acm.org/Programs/PHDForum.

About DAC
DAC is the premier forum for the electronic design industry to exchange information on products, methodologies and processes. Attended by more than 15,000 developers, designers, researchers, managers and engineers from leading electronics companies and universities around the world, DAC includes more than 225 exhibitors and offers a robust technical program covering the electronics industry's hottest trends.

The conference is sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery/Special Interest Group on Design Automation (ACM/SIGDA), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/Circuits and Systems Society (IEEE/CAS) and the Electronic Design Automation Consortium (EDA Consortium). For more information, including registration, visit the DAC Web site at http://www.dac.com, or contact DAC management at 1-800-321-4573.

For more information, contact:

Julia Kelly-Echeverio
KVO Public Relations
(503) 721-4256
julia_kelly@kvo.com