It’s hard to believe DAC is here already. We are excited to be back in San Francisco this year –– just up the road from Silicon Valley –– a great location. We look forward to seeing you there. 
We’re even more excited about our new life as a SEMI Strategic Association Partner. Our mission, name, activities and industry focus on the design ecosystem will continue on –– even stronger with our new association with SEMI.
The ESD Alliance membership will benefit by having access to SEMI’s global platform and many verticals, such as Smart Manufacturing, Smart Transportation and Smart Data. We are pleased to play a vital role in SEMI’s mission by bringing the experience, knowledge and thought leadership from the system design ecosystem, which is “Where Electronics Begins™.”
It’s really a misperception that some members of our community picture SEMI and its SEMICON trade shows as only targeting semiconductor manufacturing equipment –– an outdated view to be sure. SEMI’s expanded mission now spans the entire global electronics manufacturing chain, from concept and design through product manufacturing and end-market applications, and the reason for the natural fit between the ESD Alliance and SEMI.
Check out the program for SEMICON West 2018 and you’ll see a wide range of topics ––everything from IoT, AI, blockchain and smart transportation to smart data, flexible hybrid electronics, and MEMS and sensors. This is way more than just equipment and are topics that have our community buzzing. 
For many years our industry was “chip-centric.” Now chip design is changing in a fundamental way as we move into the system design era. We’re no longer supporting only the few companies who tailor their product designs to meet the next technology node for yet one more high-powered chip.
Instead, there are more designs than ever before. Chips will remain important, though as one, albeit key element of system design and manufacturing. IoT is transforming design techniques to get chips completed rapidly and affordably, while IP is driving system design through a higher level of abstraction. Both are adding complexity, but are huge, untapped opportunities for the system design ecosystem.
The other significant change is that, by necessity, design and manufacturing are now collaborative activities and increasingly closely tied. The good old days of separated design and manufacturing are receding into the past.
We’re moving from the provincial to the modern era. Design is happening everywhere. We have many more modes of communications and expanding chances to get creative. These changes beg for a new way of thinking about how the design ecosystem fits into the broader global electronics marketplace. Becoming a SEMI Strategic Association Partner gives us an opportunity to develop programs and initiatives that designers need, and tie that into the larger framework of the entire manufacturing chain.
Once we finalize our transition into SEMI, we will no longer be a sponsor of DAC. In considering the broader view of our community, we are bringing a new element to SEMICON West starting in 2019 in San Francisco. Our members will help plan, shape and drive the new Design Ecosystem Pavilion we are launching at next year’s show. This will be a dedicated platform with its own tracks, designed to showcase everything about design from IP to EDA to embedded software to design services and more. By holding this event as an integral part of SEMICON West, we bring together the entire electronics product chain at one large event.
Please stop by the ESD Alliance Booth (#1234) to see us and we’ll be happy to answer your questions and explain more about our expanded role by being part of SEMI.
