An Engineer's Guide to DesignCon: Keynotes
By Staff -- EDN, February 6, 2006
DesignCon 2006, at the Santa Clara Convention Center today through Thursday, will feature keynotes from some of the big hitters in the semiconductor business, plus a hefty lineup of management panels, technical panels, and technical paper presentations.
The show kicks off Monday with technical paper presentations, panels, and a keynote from Intel CTO Justin Rattner, who is also an Intel senior fellow and director of the company's corporate technology group. Tuesday and Wednesday also include keynotes, technical and management panels, and paper presentations, while Thursday is tutorial day.
Rattner's keynote Monday will look at "usage-oriented innovation" and the need for a global R&D perspective.
"New growth opportunities abound in computing and communications in emerging markets, but one size does not fit all," Rattner said. "We must embrace regionalization and embed our R&D efforts within these markets to successfully address unique user needs."
Tuesday features a noontime keynote from Brian Halla, chairman and CEO of National Semiconductor. Halla will begin by giving his take on what is happening in the electronics industry today and describe why he is bullish about the future of electronics both locally and internationally. However, he will then temper that message by describing how the current political climate needs to change in order to foster electronics innovation in the US and specifically in Silicon Valley.
Wednesday features a noontime keynote by T.J. Rodgers, Cypress Semiconductor's founder, president, CEO, and director. Rodgers will focus on the need to proliferate solar-power technology. "With the convergence of several factors, including rising oil costs, higher electricity demands in developing countries, and concerns about global warming, we believe that solar power's time has come and that Silicon Valley will lead the way in helping to solve the problem," Rodgers said.
In addition to the keynotes, the conference on Tuesday will also feature a plenary panel entitled "Electronic Design in a Global Industry."
Darlene Solomon, director and vice president for Agilent Technologies' Agilent Laboratories, will moderate the plenary session, which will examine the challenges of global design efforts, establishing offshore design centers, and related issues such as protection of intellectual property and export control.
Panelists scheduled to appear are Ahmad Bahai, fellow and CTO of the wireless group at National Semiconductor, Jerry Bautista, director of technology management at the Microprocessor Research Laboratory at Intel, Robert Hum, vice president and general manager of the design verification and test division at Mentor Graphics, and Ronnie Vasishta, CEO of eASIC Corp.
