Engineering Special Session Call for Proposals
DAC seeks proposals for the Engineering Tracks Special Sessions. These sessions intend to highlight timely, visionary and emerging topics for the respective audience.
- Information for Engineering Tracks Special Sessions is below.
- DAC is committed to inclusion and diversity, and values the representation of varied viewpoints. Sessions are expected to represent the spectrum of diversity in the Electronic Design ecosystem. We strongly encourage sessions that embrace diversity, and are inclusive of regions, industries and organizations that make up our ecosystem.
Special Sessions (Engineering Tracks): Special sessions are broad-interest sessions within the technical conference program such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) Design, EDA, and Systems, Chips to Chiplets, Security, Quantum Computing and future interest areas. A key aspect of special sessions is that they should be of broad interest, timely and informative, while not overlapping with the content of traditional Engineering Tracks presentations
All presenters are required to register for the conference at the Engineering registration rate by April 10.
Submission Format
All Engineering Tracks Special Session suggestions should be submitted via the DAC website and include the required information indicated below.
- Session Title: The title will be published in the conference program
- Event Abstract: Provide an abstract of no more than 300 words for the session program. The abstract should be worded so as to attract the attendees to the session as well as provide their key contributions
- Topic Areas: Select one or two topic areas from the dropdown menu.
- Keywords: Select up to three keywords from the dropdown menu.
- Event contributors: Provide name, affiliation, and full contact information of organizer(s) and proposed session chair.
- Presentation titles: Presentation titles are one and the same.
- Co-Presenters: Please provide names, affiliations and contact information for each co-author
- Short abstract of each talk: Please provide an abstract of 150 words or less that describes each proposed paper/presentation.
- Additional details: Please provide the following information in this section
- Proposed length of the session: 90 minutes
- Structure for the session: What is your preferred structure (talks + panel, tutorial + talks, only talks) and whyand outline each speaker with their time duration
- Intended audience: Subject area and level of expertise. Please also indicate the focus of the session: (technical, business or mixed).
- Viewpoints and session balances: How does the session holistically cover the viewpoints or the main sub-areas in the session topic? What is the balance between vendors and users, technologists and methodologists, academics and industry, various competing technology solutions, etc.?
- Presenters qualifications: For each presenter, please provide a brief bio and her/his qualifications relevant to the topics of the special session (less than 150 words each)
- Additional information: If you have any other supporting information relevant to the proposal, you may include them here.
IMPORTANT: Do not submit your special session proposal until you have confirmed the participation of the proposed chair and speakers. Do not wait to find out if the special session has been accepted before obtaining confirmation.
All presenters are required to register for the conference at the Engineering registration rate.
Preparing Your Special Session Proposal:
There are a number of things to consider in a special session proposal:
- Focus – Technical or business? The majority of special sessions have a technical focus, which is appropriate, as they are part of the technical program. Sometimes they have a mixed focus, but a business-only special session would likely be better as a panel.
- Premise and Motivation – Consider why a special session is appropriate and what the overall theme is meant to convey. What is the key issue? Why have it at DAC, and why in this year? (i.e., what makes it timely?) Why the special session format? Also, be sure to bring out uniqueness of the topic.
- Topic and Speakers – There are only a few special sessions in each DAC, and the topic should be of significant importance to the technical audience at this time. The speakers need to convey compelling information about the topic, and it must be of high value to the attendees.
- Speakers and Structure – Who are the invited speakers? What are the title, the length and the topic of each talk? Speakers should be confirmed in advance before making the proposal. They should know and agree with the theme of the session. What ties the speakers together into the overall theme, and what is the order of the talks? A special session may have an interesting thematic structure – for example, the first talk may give a mini-tutorial overview of a problem; the next talks may give various solutions to that problem. (See below for more suggestions on the structure)
- Session Chair – The chair of a special session and the organizer(s) can be different. The session chair will have to be present at the session, while organizer participation is not mandatory.
- Constraints: – No organization may be associated with both the session chair and speaker roles. That is, the designated session chair must be affiliated with a different organization than all the speakers. It is possible, but not preferable, for an individual to be both an organizer and a speaker in the session. A person cannot be a co-author in more than one paper per special session. A complete list of co-authors per paper must be given at the time of special session submission. Adding co-authors after acceptance of the special session is not allowed. It must be clearly denoted whether the manuscript (in identical or modified version) has been submitted to any other event before.
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Timeline
- September 27, 2024: Call for Contributions opens
- January 16, 2025: Call for Contributions closes
- February 26, 2025: Accept/Reject notifications will be sent out
- March 13, 2025: Confirmation Forms Due - Accepted presentations and posters must submit a confirmation form
- April 10, 2025: Speaker 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 25, 2025: Slide Feedback - Deadline for Session Chairs to communicate slide presentation feedback to authors
- June 2, 2025: Final Slides - Deadline for authors to submit final poster and/or presentation slides and video
- June 22, 2025: DAC begins!
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Review Process & Selection
Each submission will be evaluated by the organizing committee, who may refine the proposals and the slate of speakers to better fit the conference program. The committee will strive as much as possible to involve the proposers of promising Special Session submissions in finalizing them for inclusion in the program. Proposers of accepted Special Sessions will be acknowledged in the DAC program (online and in print) and in the DAC proceedings.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a DAC Engineering Tracks Special Session?
DAC special sessions are part of the technical program and occupy a time slot of either 1.5. Each special session has an organizer, a moderator (which can also be the Special Session Chair) and an opportunity for three or more participants to speak in a room with theater-style seating with a seated audience of up to 250 people.
Do Engineering Tracks Special Sessions produce a manuscript to be published in the DAC proceedings?
No, there is no publication option for an Engineering Tracks Special Session.
What are possible structures for a DAC Engineering Tracks Special Session?
There are three different popular structures for a DAC special session. Of course, variations on any of these structures may be appropriate – but please justify your choice of structure in your proposal. The popular structures are:
- Traditional – As many 30-minute talks as will fit into a session of 90 minutes.
- Mini-tutorial plus solutions – The first talk is a 30 or 45-minute setup talk, followed by shorter (15 or 30-minute) talks. The first talk could act as a mini-tutorial or outline a problem, followed by 15 or 30-minute talks which cover various solutions or approaches looking for solutions in the topic area.
- Talks and panel – e.g., three 30-minute talks, followed by a 30-minute panel discussion moderated by the Session Chair and involving all the speakers, including Q&A moderated by the chair which engages the audience.
Who organizes the Engineering Tracks Special Sessions?
The DAC Organizing Committee reviews the proposals for the special sessions and coordinates with the organizer on the final content. All suggestions must be submitted via the DAC website; direct solicitations must also be entered there for consideration. However, please feel free to consult the Engineering Tracks Program Chair prior to submitting the proposal.
How are the DAC Engineering Tracks Special Sessions selected? What is the process?
The DAC Executive Committee determines which and how many special sessions are included in the DAC program, as well as their placement in the conference schedule. The Program Committee selects special sessions based on:
- How complete and compelling the special session proposal is
- Timeliness of the proposal – i.e., why it is especially suitable for DAC to cover this topic at this time
- Breadth of interest in the area
- Confirmed speaker list and the coverage of the topic in their talks
- How well the topic fits within the overall content of the conference
Once the special session submission has been reviewed, the Executive Committee may make any changes to the special session they deem necessary in the best interest of the program, including:
- Add, remove, or replace proposed speakers
- Replace the proposed session chair
- Modify the topic
If multiple special session proposals are submitted with similar topics, the Executive Committee may choose to accept one over the others, to merge the proposed sessions, or to reject all of them.
Who is involved in an Engineering Tracks Special Session?
- Organizer: The organizer writes the proposal for the special session, selects and confirms the participation of the chair and session speakers, and submits the proposal to DAC by the due date (January 16, 2025).
- Chair: The special session chair fills the same role as the chair of any regular technical program session. The session organizer may serve as the session chair. They briefly introduce the session and each speaker, keep track of time, and moderate the panel (if a panel is part of the special session), and manage the question and answer session after each talk.
- Speakers: The speakers for the special sessions fill the same role as any regular technical speaker at DAC, and must submit separate or joint presentations. The Engineering Tracks Program Chair and session organizer will review the presentation and provide feedback.
What if I do not have enough speakers for a full Engineering Tracks Special Session?
If you have an idea for 1-2 talks in a special session, we still encourage you to submit the incomplete session. The DAC Executive Committee may find other speakers in order to fill out the session. It may be possible to merge incomplete special session proposals into one session.
I still have some questions. Who do I contact?
Feel free to email Frank Schirrmeister, 62 DAC Engineering Tracks Program Chair, if you have any questions. Putting together a successful special session typically requires iterations with the program committee, so feel free to reach out any time before the deadline to get inputs on ideas you have.
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Topics
Please select up to two of the following Topic Areas:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Design
- Electronic Design Automation
- Security
- Systems
Keywords
Please select up to three of the following Keywords:
- AI and Machine Learning
Analog & Mixed-signal Design
- Architecture & System Design
- Chiplets and Interconnects
- Circuits and Technology
- Cloud Computing
- Design Technology Co-optimization
- Embedded Systems and IoT
- Emerging Technologies
- FPGA Systems
- Formal/Static Methods
- Low Power
- Logic & High-level Synthesis
- Manufacturing and Process
- Physical Design
- Quantum Computing
- Safety & Reliability
- Security & Privacy
- Test
- Verification & Validation
Industry
If a submission will be relevant to a specific industry or industries, one or more of the following industries may be selected:
- Aerospace and Defense
- Automotive
- Consumer
- Data Center
- Industrial
- Wireless Communications
- Wired Communications
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