ISQED focuses on systems, education and sensors
The International Symposium on Quality Electronic Design (ISQED) enters its 13th edition later this month, running March 19-21 at Techmart in Santa Clara.
Although ISQED traditionally concentrated on tools and IP blocks, its agenda has broadened as the industry has migrated to SoCs and full electronic systems where process and manufacturing interactions have come to play a greater role.
This year’s symposium includes sessions on topics as diverse as power-aware design; energy-efficient design; 3D packaging and analysis; and system level failure and test methods.
These sessions are framed by the plenary talks on advanced node processing and design (with contributions from Cadence Design Systems, GlobalFoundries and UC San Diego); variability (IMEC); resistive memories (Aix-Marseille University); and analog innovation (Texas Instruments). There will also be a review of the symbiotic relationship between the space program and electronics (Synopsys).
As usual, the conference will cover emerging devices, tool flows and methodologies. You can view the program and sessions overview here.
The changing nature of engineering has prompted ISQED to create two co-located events. The Interdisciplinary Engineering Design Education Conference (IEDEC) is now in its second year, and 2012 marks the debut of SensorsCon.
As engineering is now the creation of products based around a cooperative ecosystem rather than a sequential supply chain, the education of tomorrow’s engineers has to change to reflect that. IEDEC takes place on Monday, March 19 and is dedicated to exploring the multi-skill, multi-subject strategies that will better fit today’s realities. It discusses coursework, programs and curricula that cross traditional vertical tracks in engineering schools.
The program includes presentations from AMD on hardware/software co-design with OpenCL; TE Connectivity on the incorporation of hardware/software/social engineering and data mining for digital signage; The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at SUNY Albany on the creation of an ABET-approved nanotechnology degree program; and UC Berkeley’s CITRIS program on the role of computing on interdisciplinary data. Four additional detailed paper tracks consider other programs that have been successfully implemented in both university and commerce.
The rise of the ‘Internet of things’ and mobile devices has brought MEMS and sensors to the forefront of the electronic system universe. SensorsCon takes place on Wednesday, March 21 and addresses primarily non-linear and non-standard manufacturing devices that bring a number of challenges to the system design and design reliability equation.
Early MEMS pioneer Janusz Bryzek, now of Fairchild Semiconductor joins representatives from Bosch, Intel, Dust Networks, Sensors Platforms, Sprint, Mphasis, California Polytech and Microlytica on an agenda that will address the manufacturing, design and implementation required to build high reliability consumer and industrial products with a sensor-based core.
Pallab Chatterjee is Joint General Chair of ISQED.