39th Design Automation Conference Highlights Learning Opportunities for Both EDA Veterans and Industry Newcomers

New workshops include "Teaching Functional Verification" and "Introduction to Chips and EDA for a General Audience;" standing workshops on interoperability and women's issues will continue

BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 22, 2002-- In an effort to provide a wide breadth of learning opportunities for all levels of attendees, the Design Automation Conference (DAC), the electronic design industry's leading event, has expanded its workshop offerings for this year's technical program. For the first time, the DAC program will include a workshop specifically aimed at non-technical and business attendees, as well as a workshop focused on the issues universities face in readying design engineers for the challenges of functional verification. All of the workshops are scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 9th and Monday June 10th during the 39th annual conference at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans.

"DAC is proud to provide attendees at all levels of EDA expertise with opportunities for learning and discussion at this year's conference," said Bryan Ackland, 39th DAC general chair and vice president of communications systems technology for Agere Systems. "In addition to the established workshops geared towards chip designers, the new workshops provide a forum for the business, academic and general lay person communities."

Teaching Functional Verification - Sunday, June 9th

To meet the demand for well-educated verification engineers, several universities have added undergraduate and graduate level classes that focus on the realities of complex SoC and custom designs. These classes aim to provide students with insight on the emerging verification career path, an understanding of the verification process, and a working knowledge of the basic verification methodologies.

Teaching Functional Verification, a new workshop this year, will share the experiences and resources of these new university classes, and will include teaching materials, textbook overviews, lab exercises, grading and testing strategy, and EDA tools. Furthermore, the workshop will encourage other university professors to join the collaborative efforts to refine and extend the teaching of functional verification. Teaching Functional Verification is scheduled for Sunday, June 9th, 12:00 - 5:15 p.m. in room 285.

Introduction to Chips and EDA for a General Audience - Monday, June 10th

Intended for the non-technical and business-focused attendees at DAC, Introduction to Chips and EDA for a General Audience is a basic, hands-on explanation of how chips are designed using EDA tools. Attendees of this new workshop will have the opportunity to see and feel the components that make up today's chips and electronic products, and learn about EDA in a fun, non-threatening environment. The workshop's goals are to give attendees a basic, working knowledge of EDA and semiconductor technologies, encourage people to join the EDA community, and to provide a general understanding of why the EDA industry is a good financial investment.

The workshop is geared toward non-engineering staff at technology companies and members of the media and analysts unfamiliar with the EDA and semiconductor industries, as well as industry newcomers, educators, students and others who are curious about chip technology. Introduction to Chips and EDA for a General Audience is scheduled for Monday, June 10th, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. in room 288.

Interoperability Workshop - Monday, June 10th

A subject of perpetual and passionate interest, tool interoperability and standards will be discussed at the third annual Interoperability Workshop. Since the last workshop, the Open Access Coalition has been formed and has made some progress with a standard data model API. Are its efforts in line with what the industry needs? This year's workshop will discuss the progress being made and the need for a new design-system architecture. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions of representatives from system, semiconductor and EDA companies and challenge predictions for the future of tool interoperability. The Interoperability Workshop is scheduled for Monday, June 10th, 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. in room 285.

Workshop for Women in Design Automation (WWINDA) - Monday, June 10th

More and more women are succeeding in technology, but a significant gap still exists between where they are today and where they have the potential to be in the next decade. Women who have succeeded can tell you about the obstacles, and the different ways they have used their strengths to overcome them. In this year's workshop, titled Silk Purses and Sow's Ears: Turning Obstacles into Opportunity, attendees once again have the unique opportunity to get advice and coaching from successful leaders across the industry and examine ways to turn imperfect situations into glittering successes, much like the saying about turning sow's ears into silk purses. For the first time, this workshop will be offered on Monday during the conference, so that more people will be able to attend. It is scheduled for June 10th, 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. in room 286-287.

For further information on all four workshop programs, visit http://www.dac.com and click on "Sunday and Monday Workshops."

Registration

To register for DAC, visit www.dac.com or call 1-800-321-4573 in the U.S. to request registration materials. The advance registration deadline is May 13, 2002.

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 200 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 www.dac.com, or contact DAC management at 1-800-321-4573.

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