DAC

Welcome to San Diego and the 44th Design Automation Conference!

San Diego is an excellent venue for DAC, with its proximity to many high-tech companies, its beautiful location in southern California, and a wide variety of activities and sights. For those of you bringing families and friends you should enjoy some of the attractions of San Diego, like a cruise on the bay, a visit to Old Town, Balboa Park and Zoo, or Mission Bay Park including Sea World.

At the convention center, thousands of us including executives, managers, designers, developers, academics, journalists, and others, will learn about the latest in design tools and methodologies for verification and test, design for manufacturing, IP, design libraries, RF/wireless, analog and mixed-signal designs, embedded software in SoCs, and other drivers in today's designs. That is because DAC is the largest and most prestigious event focused on the design of electronic circuits and systems.

This year, we have 240 exhibitors, 201 technical presentations (including 8 on "Wild And Crazy Ideas"), plus 8 technical program panels, 18 pavilion panels, 7 full day tutorials, 6 hands-on tutorials, 7 workshops on Sunday and Monday, and various co-located events including the Design Automation Summer School, the International Conference on Microelectronic Systems Education, and the International Workshop on Logic and Synthesis.

Of particular interest to many of us will be the Automotive Theme, which showcases design challenges that stem from embedding electronic systems in engine control, driver interfaces, communications, entertainment, navigation, and safety critical systems in our automobiles. Design beyond traditional EDA will also be highlighted in special sessions on multi-core systems, virtual automotive platforms, the future of interconnects, and synthetic biology.

New this year, DAC will feature a special Executive Management Seminar exploring the theme of managing innovation. The speakers will be management guru and best-selling author Geoffrey Moore, EDA veteran Raul Camposano and venture partner Jim Smith.

On the exhibit floor we will again have our Pavilion with 18 pavilion panels of interest to both attendees and exhibitors. We will have two advanced technology cars: one from one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, the Sequel Hydrogen powered car from General Motors and another from one of the smallest car makers, the X1Prototype electric car from Wrightspeed.

On Thursday we will have a tribute to the legacy of A. Richard Newton, Professor and Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, with a keynote by Jan Rabaey, the Donald O. Pederson Distinguished Professor at the University of California at Berkeley.