Approximately 5,000 members of the electronic system design ecosystem were in full force in Austin, Texas, last month for the annual Design Automation Conference. The ESD Alliance as both a sponsor and exhibitor was there, of course, and Julie Rogers, Paul Cohen and I attempted to get to every booth and every presentation while Paul’s granddaughter Rachael staffed our booth. We had a chance to meet many new faces and catch up with long-time friends and associates. Our informal survey told us that exhibitors were pleased with the turnout in Austin, many of whom said they had loads of good conversations about tools and methodologies.

Michael (Mac) McNamara, DAC’s General chair, and the DAC Executive Committee should be commended for the keynote speakers who left every member of the audience enthused, inspired and jazzed. What could be better?

What indeed? The Pavilion on the DAC exhibit floor was a popular attraction. Of special note was the Sky Talk moderated by Ed Sperling of Semiconductor Engineering and featuring ARM’s CEO Simon Segars and Lucio Lanza, managing director of Lanza techVentures, both of whom are Alliance Board Members. Kudos to Simon for being awake and alert at 3 a.m. in Japan to participate remotely. All’s forgiven for he had good reason to be teleconferenced into DAC instead of being there in person –– he was named that week to the SoftBank board of directors and attended his first board meeting.

Ed also moderated informative Sky Talk sessions with other ESD Alliance board members Lip-Bu Tan from Cadence, Wally Rhines of Mentor, a Siemens Business, and Synopsys’ Aart de Gues.
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