Cadence Contributes to China Postgraduate IC Innovation Competition

Students are full of wisdom, energy and courage to pursue their dreams. 

China Postgraduate IC Innovation Competition is one of the series of the Postgraduate Innovation and Practice Competition; it is a team-based, creative, practice, activity of IC design for postgraduates in higher education institutions and research institutes nationwide. A total of 503 teams from 96 universities across China registered for the competition, and 154 teams from 48 universities were selected to enter the final round. The teams consisted of 2 to 3 students, of which 79% were master's students, 12% were doctoral students and 9% were senior undergraduates who had already obtained the qualification of graduate school. 

This is the fifth consecutive year that Cadence has participated in and supported the China Postgraduate IC Innovation Competition. Cadence provided support during the months leading up to the event and in the final on-site competition.

With the slowdown of Moore's Law and the further increase of system integration, 3D-IC has become one of the important directions that major vendors and EDA companies are investing in R&D. Cadence launched its Integrity 3D-IC design platform last year, which is dedicated to system-driven PPA optimization solutions. In order to have more communication with universities in this cutting-edge technology area, Cadence designed and chaired problems in this year's and last year's competition.

• 2022: Optimization algorithm for multilayer module partitioning of 3D-IC
• 2021: 3D-IC interconnection optimization algorithm

During the competition, with the support of the China Sales team, Cadence provided more than 1,000 digital, analog and verification temp EDA licenses for students to take the computer-based exams, while 2 AEs provided technical support remotely.

The competition at the final site consisted of a 60-minute written test of basic knowledge and a 330-minute computer-based exam to answer design questions. The exam was divided into the IC design category (including digital, RF, analog, and mixed-signal), the semiconductor device and process category, and the EDA algorithm and tool design category. Teams needed to review the questions, choose any of these directions, and complete the exam collectively. 

The top 50 teams with the highest exam scores advanced to the final round, where they were then evaluated on their solutions to the chaired problems and overall winners are selected.

After months of fierce competition, a total of four teams from three universities won the first and second prizes for Cadence chaired problem. We wish a heartfelt congratulations to all the winning teams, participating students and their instructors. 

The First Prize winning team for the Cadence chaired problem, from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, was also the first place winner for the China Postgraduate IC Innovation Competition! Second Prize winning teams for the Cadence chaired problem were from the Wuhan University of Technology (2 teams) and Southeast University. 

Liu Miao, Cadence DSG Senior Group Director gave a speech at the IC university-enterprise cooperation meeting, sharing the latest technology of Cadence 3D-IC and discussing opportunities for cooperation with professors who are also doing research in this field. After that, Liu Miao personally awarded the team who won the first prize for the Cadence chaired problem.

                                         

Cadence also participated in the job fair, where they met face-to-face with around 400 students and shared internship and campus recruiting opportunities for various technical positions. We expect more young talent to join Cadence!

                                         

Cadence will continue to support the China Postgraduate IC Innovation Competition and contribute to the development of the national IC industry and talent training. We look forward to seeing everyone again at the 6th competition in Wuhan next year.