#53DAC, 3: I want you (to submit to the Designer/IP track)

DAC is in its sixth decade, an astonishing run in the world of tech conferences, which tend to age in dog years. However sometimes I worry that because of this long history, public perception within the tech world about DAC lags behind the exciting ways the conference has evolved and grown in recent years, particularly when it comes to attracting hands-on designers to the Designer/IP track.
 
This year’s track is shaping up to be more robust than ever. We hope to attract enough content to be presented in three parallel sessions, up from two parallel sessions for the last few years. If you read no further, just remember these two points:

1. The Designer/IP track submission deadline is February 4, 2016.
2. The good news for you is that it’s very easy to send something in.

More on the submission process below but first, a bit more on DAC past and present.    
 
There was a time when DAC catered mostly to those developing EDA software or researching EDA at universities. These constituencies remain important though are by no means the only interests served by the conference. Consider the expanding slew of industry segments and technical disciplines from which DAC draws attendees: automotive, security, foundries, IP, embedded systems, IoT and more. DAC’s technical program has become more interdisciplinary and vibrant as a direct result aggregating of these groups.
 
Then of course there are ever larger numbers of designers and IP suppliers of all stripes, who together represent a prime example of how DAC has evolved beyond its research-oriented roots. Many of these technologists come for the Designer/IP track, a marketing-free zone aimed squarely at practitioners, a broad category that includes hardware designers, software engineers, IP developers, application engineers and managers/executives. Topics encompass everything from effective design flows, methods, tool usage, as well as IP integration and software development practices.
 
Certainly content from the cutting-edge is welcome, though so is more conventional training-type information, even if it's rather open-ended or even whimsical. Want to present how to simultaneously deal with your tapeout schedule and your manager? I'd attend that one and I know I wouldn’t be alone!
 

Drumming up enthusiam for DAC among the Austin locals!

We try to cast as broad a net as possible so we keep the submission process easy. All that’s required is a 100-word abstract (for comparison, if you’ve read this far you’ve made it past the 300-word mark in this post) and a PowerPoint presentation of no more than six slides. For more information, see the submission guidelines and categories. Again, the deadline is February 4, less than two months away. I’m looking forward to seeing what you send in!

I’m also looking forward to showing off Austin next summer. Last week I hosted a DAC info session here at Cadence’s Austin campus for those in the local area. I wanted not only to evangelize about DAC and the Designer/IP track, but also to drum up some grassroots enthusiasm here for welcoming visitors from around the world to Texas in June.

Based on the attendance for my talk, I think we’re off to a good start. Among the organizations represented: ARM, Freescale/NXP, IBM, IEEE, Mediatek, Oracle and Qualcomm. (Oh, and if you’re wondering who your company will be in the Designer/IP track, know that engineers from many of these companies have presented in the track in recent years.)
 
Happy holidays. My New Year’s wish is that you will be part of the reason your company is well represented at DAC next year.