Engineering Tracks Presentation Guidelines
Authors of accepted presentations will be allocated 15 minutes in a Back-End Designer, Front-End Designer, Systems and Software, or IP Track session: 13 minutes for the presentation, 1 minute for wrap-up, and 1 minute for Q/A. In addition, presenters are required to present a poster describing their work (see below for poster guidelines) at one of the hour-long poster sessions and be available for the entire hour to discuss their work with interested attendees. This provides an opportunity for extended discussion with interested members of the audience.
Each session is required to submit a video presentation along with their final presentation. This does not replace participation in the event. At least one author must attend and present at the live event.
If you notice an issue with your presentation in the DAC program or need to request a change, please submit a change request.
TIMELINE | REGISTRATION | PRESENTATION GUIDELINES AND REVIEW | POSTER INFORMATION | VIDEO GUIDELINES | ONSITE INFORMATION | SUBMISSION INFORMATION } REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS | FAQ'S
TIMELINE
- September 27, 2024: Submission site open
- January 16, 2025: Submission deadline
- February 26, 2025: Notification - Accept as presentation, accept as poster, or reject notifications will be emailed to authors
- March 13, 2025: Confirmation Forms Due - Accepted presentations and posters must submit a confirmation form
- April 10, 2025: Registration Deadline
- April 25, 2025: Bio & Draft Slides Due - Submission deadline for draft of final presentations and/or posters and speaker bios (for full talks only). All material will be reviewed by Session Chairs
- May 27, 2025: Slide Feedback - Deadline for Session Chairs to communicate poster and slide presentation feedback to authors
- June 2, 2025: Final Slides and Video Due - Deadline for authors to submit final poster and/or presentation slides and video
- June 22, 2025: DAC begins!
| back to top |
REGISTRATION
I need an invitation letter for my visa. How do I request this?
Prior to the launch of registration on March 20, authors may request an invitation letter by submitting our visa letter request form. After registration is open, you may request a letter as part of the registration process.
Do I need to register for DAC? If so, which registration rates are acceptable?
Yes, Engineering Tracks presenters must be registered for DAC at either the Full Conference or Engineering Tracks rate. You may not present at DAC or attend Engineering Track sessions using I LOVE DAC registration rates.
| back to top |
PRESENTATION GUIDELINES AND REVIEW
The following guidelines should be followed when preparing your final slides for submission:
*Note: The expectation is that the final presentation will expand on the original 6 slide submission presentation.
Guidelines and Template for PPT slides:
- You are required to use the DAC template for all presentations
- ONLY PPT, PPTX, or PDF files are allowed
- Only landscape format may be used
- We do not allow any information in the footer except for the page number. Everything else will just distract from the content of the slides
- Company/University name and/or logo may only appear on the title (first slide) page
- Please note if the presentation guidelines and template are not used in the final pre-recorded video your presentation may be removed from the program.
| back to top |
POSTER INFORMATION
Engineering Tracks presenters are required to present a poster describing their work (see below for poster guidelines) at one of the hour-long poster sessions and be available for the entire hour to discuss their work with interested attendees. This provides an opportunity for extended discussion with interested members of the audience.
Each author is allocated a 42” tall x 36” wide area for a poster. Poster sessions will run for one hour, and may include 20-30 posters. Poster authors are welcome to distribute additional material to interested attendees at the poster session. Such material can include extended abstracts and whitepapers. Engineering Tracks Presentation authors have the option to print their presentation slides for posting, rather than create an additional poster. These slides must still fit in the designated poster dimensions once assembled.
- One poster board is allocated to each presentation.
- Posters must be mounted using push pins provided by the organizing committee.
- The title of your poster should be done in block letters which are AT LEAST 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 inches) high.
- All text must be easily readable from a distance of 1 to 2 meters. Make the lettering at least 1 cm high, smaller lettering will not be legible from a distance of 1 to 2 meters.
- All graphs and charts should be AT LEAST 25 X 30 cm (approximately 8.5 x 11 inches) or larger.
- It is a good idea to sequentially number your materials in the poster. This will indicate to the viewer a logical progression through your poster.
- Provide an introduction (outline) and a summary or conclusion for your poster.
- Please include a copy of the DAC logo at the bottom right corner of your poster. You can download the PNG image file here.
- Prepare your poster carefully so that it can be used as the basis to explain and answer questions from the viewers.
- Have your business cards available for those who may wish to contact you at a later date.
- Bring along a tablet of blank paper that you may use for a discussion of technical details relating to your poster.
| back to top |
VIDEO GUIDELINES
Each session is required to submit a video presentation along with their final presentation. The pre-recorded video will be used for DAC-TV archives after the event and to be used for Best Presentation Award review process. It is imperative for your video to be submitted on schedule for the Best Presentation Award review process. More information will be provided after the selection of Best Presentation candidates.
- This recording will be 15 minutes. Audio and slides are required, optional to record your webcam as a thumbnail image (consider this in your slide layout)
- All presenters are required to use the DAC 2025 PPT template and to follow slide presentation guidelines above.
- Final video presentation files must be saved as an MP4. We can ONLY accept MP4.
- Each speaker will have access to an "Upload Your Video" stage in the speaker/paper management system beginning April 15.
- Pre-recorded video presentations are due no later than May 21.
- Once the video presentation is uploaded to the secure site there will be no updates or changes.
How to pre-record your presentation:
- Presentations can be recorded using the following applications:
- All pre-recorded video presentations are required horizontal (landscape) orientation.
- The audio source needs to be as close to the microphone in an environment that has little or no other noise or echo.
- Use a headset to record your audio to reduce outside noises and review the instructions on how to produce clear and quality audio.
GOOD CLEAR AUDIO and CLEAR EASY TO READ SLIDES are essential
- Record more than one video for review and practice. Take note of your lighting and audio when reviewing your pre-recorded presentation. It is not uncommon to take more than 2-3 video recordings before the final version.
It is required that you review the best practice guidelines before pre-recording.
| back to top |
ONSITE INFORMATION
REQUIRED EVENTS
Please attend the Speaker's Breakfast the day of your presentation:
- Monday, June 23 at 7:30am
- Tuesday, June 24 at 7:30am
- Wednesday, June 25 at 7:30am
AV INFORMATION
Meeting rooms will have the following equipment:
- LCD Projector
- 16x9 Aspect Ratio Screen
- Laptop Computer with Microsoft Office
- Wireless Lavaliere Microphone
- Audio Equipment
- Aisle Microphones for Questions
- Laser Pointer
- Speaker Timer
PRACTICE ROOMS
Practice rooms will be available for:
- Last-minute polishing.
- Rehearsing your presentation in front of friends or colleagues.
- Fine-tuning your timing.
| back to top |
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
The following are required for your submission:
- The title of the presentation
- Abstract of 100-200 words
- Submission Categories
- Presenter(s) name, affiliation, city, state, country, and email address
- For evaluation by the Program Committee, a six (6) slides* PowerPoint presentation. Please review the guidelines below for suggested presentation structure.
*Additional information may be added in the notes section for each slide.
The following guidelines should be followed when preparing your slides for submission:
- Submissions are limited to 6 total slides*.
- Submissions must be in PowerPoint format: 16:9 aspect ratio.
- Consistent with DAC policy, company logos may appear only on the title slide.
- Slide 1: Title, author names and affiliations
- Authors may NOT be added after acceptance, so be sure to list all authors in the initial submission.
- Slide 2: Motivation
- Include an introduction that specifies the context and motivation of the submission. Examples: identify challenges associated with the design task at hand, clarify where in the design process the tools are used, and explain why the problem addressed is of interest to the audience.
- Slide 3: Main Idea
- Include details on the specific contributions of your work. Examples: innovative use of tools to achieve a specific goal, user enhancements to the tool and/or tool flow, dealing with scalability, details of integrating IP, study of design trade-offs, interfacing with manufacturing.
- Slide 4: Additional Content Slide
- Flexibility to add a slide that demonstrates value of the paper/idea
- Slide 5: Evidence
- Slide 6: Summary
- Include a summary that highlights the main results of your work. Results are needed to evaluate the impact of your contribution. Metrics that could be used include productivity enhancement, improved quality of silicon, decreased complexity, and reduced time-to-market.
- Important: Ensure that you have the necessary legal, trademark, copyright, and/or organizational approval needed to submit your presentation. Take appropriate steps to get this approval early, as the submissions deadline cannot be extended.
*Note: The presentation format described above is what is required for your submission to be reviewed by the Technical Program committee to decide Accept/Reject. The final presentation delivered at DAC will be made up of a Title slide, Author slide and 12 content slides. The expectation is that the final presentation will expand on the submission presentation.
| back to top |
REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS
The Engineering Tracks program committee consists of industry experts that collectively represent years of design and software development experience. A good Engineering Tracks presentation addresses innovative tool use coupled with high-quality results. Extra notes are encouraged to be included in the submission. The considerations used by the program committee in acceptance decisions include:
- Significance of results supported by clear, measurable criteria, including, but not limited to: improved quality of silicon, improved reuse, decreased design process complexity, and reduced time-to-market.
- Level of innovation in tool use, e.g., utilizing one tool to obtain results that aid another tool, writing scripts to combine tools, user-facing enhancements, intelligent data management. A submission should not mirror the help section in the tool's user manual, but instead address a creative way of using the tool.
- Ability to overcome design challenges such as scalability, integrating IP, and bridging front-end/back-end gaps.
- Validation of the proposed techniques using real designs, case studies, or established benchmarks.
- Discussion of the conceptual limitations of tools and suggestions for future tool improvement. Solid technical contributions should address both the strengths and the weaknesses of the approach.
- Quality of material including writing, illustrations, and organization.
- Product marketing material is inappropriate for the Engineering Tracks topics.
| back to top |
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why Engineering Tracks Tracks? How is it different from the Research Track?
The Engineering Tracks are intended specifically for design engineers. This complements DAC’s strong research focus on algorithms and methodology.
Are Engineering Tracks presentations and posters included in the DAC Proceedings?
No. However, Engineering Tracks posters and/or presentation slides will be made available online if the authors give permission. They will be made available on the DAC website after the conference as a part of the DAC Archive.
Do I have to use a DAC template for my presentation?
Yes, you must use the DAC template.
May I add an additional author(s) after submission?
No. All authors should be included at submission.
What does an Engineering Tracks presentation entail?
Authors of accepted presentations will be allocated 15 minutes in a Engineering Tracks session: 13 minutes for the presentation, 1 minute for wrap-up, and 1 minute for Q/A. In addition, presenters are required to present a poster describing their work (see below for poster guidelines) at one of the hour-long Engineering Tracks poster sessions and be available for the entire hour to discuss their work with interested attendees. This provides an opportunity for extended discussion with interested members of the audience.
All accepted presentations are expected to submit a video of their presentation in advance of the event. This does not replace participation in the event. At least one author must attend and present at the live event.
What does an Engineering Tracks poster entail?
Each author is allocated a 42” tall x 36” wide area for a poster. Engineering Tracks poster sessions will run for one hour, and may include 20-30 posters. Poster authors are welcome to distribute additional material to interested attendees at the poster session. Such material can include extended abstracts and whitepapers.
All accepted posters are expected to submit a video of their presentation in advance of the event. This does not replace participation in the event. At least one author must attend and present at the live event.
What's the difference between an Engineering Tracks poster and an Engineering Tracks presentation?
Engineering Tracks presentations are oral presentations similar to those in the DAC research track. Engineering Tracks presentations are scheduled in sessions that run parallel to the rest of the DAC program and also include a poster presentation at a Designer Track poster session at the end of the day. If you are selected for a full presentation, you must produce both a slide presentation and a poster for post-session questions and discussion.
Engineering Tracks poster-only presentations must only produce a poster that will be presented during a poster-only session to be held at the end of the day on the exhibit floor for maximum exposure and discussion.
Do the Engineering Tracks tracks have “Best of” awards?
Yes! Best Presentation awards will be selected from each Track. The awards will be based on (a) the quality of the submission, (b) the presentation given at DAC, and (c) the presentation at the poster session. The final selection will be made at the conference by an award committee. The Best Presentation Award will be announced in the DAC general session.
What should my slide presentation look like?
Remember that your slides must be presented in 13 minutes, plus 1 minute for wrap-up. Presenting meaningful content in a short time is challenging and requires careful thought and planning.
My question isn’t answered here! Where can I get an answer?
Please address any unanswered questions to Frank Schirrmeister, 62st DAC Engineering Tracks Program Chair, or Henning Spruth, Engineering Tracks Vice Chair
| back to top |