Uplifting Academia in the Classroom and Beyond – CHIPS and Science Act

The CHIPS and Science Act was established to boost domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors in the United States. As major partners to the academic community, we’re excited about the billions invested in semiconductor research and workforce training. The Cadence Academic Network has been helping academia cultivate the next generation of engineers for over a decade now and we’re continually expanding our offerings and solutions to meet the needs of our customers. With continued collaboration with academia and the funding to support growth in the industry, we’re addressing the estimated shortage of 30-100k semiconductor engineers.

We want to enable all levels of academia to foster innovation by granting easy access to the tools needed for the full design flow, from ideation to complete, validated systems, whether this be at the chip, chiplet, package, or complete system level. We are passionate about supporting and collaborating with professors, instructors, TAs, researchers, students, and design teams looking to use Cadence tools to solve the world’s toughest technological challenges. Having access to leading-edge technology is step 1, step 2 is providing the resources to more quickly learn the methodology. Academic Network members can access our award-winning Cadence Learning and Support portal to take advantage of our suite of online training courses, Rapid Adoption Kits (RAKs), Process Design Kits (PDKs), a database of troubleshooting information and so much more.

In the Classroom

Understanding how to use Cadence tools is an important part of becoming an engineer, but it’s important to also understand the theory of electronic design automation. The Academic Network has partnered with professors and business groups to develop academic resources to be used in classroom teaching. These education kits, primarily developed by professors for professors, can be used to enrich lectures and labs by providing the fundamentals students need to excel.

It is also critically important to us to connect directly with academia to provide industry insight. We nurture these connections by providing guest lecture series on campus, technical talks to student engineering groups, and sponsoring/mentoring technical design projects. We’re always open to new ways to connect with academia, so reach out to collaborate!

Beyond the Classroom

We’re hoping to inspire more students to join the semiconductor industry and show them they can solve real-world problems that are also cool. Cadence is proud to be an Official Technology Partner of the McLaren Formula 1 Team. This partnership exhibits the importance of not just building something to see if it’ll work but optimizing it to be the best. Zak Brown, McLaren CEO, emphasizes that the simulators that the drivers use, the simulation of the car's aerodynamics, and the simulation of the systems in the vehicle will determine if they win or lose, and all that is made possible by Cadence Fidelity CFD Software.    

The Academic Network is proudly sponsoring many student design teams that are boldly proving cool work can be done in the semiconductor industry. These students are designing boats, cars, robots, and even rockets, with Cadence technology. We’re impressed by their brilliance and motivation to innovate outside the classroom or lab. It’s important to us that they have all the tools necessary to cross the finish line, their win is our win!  These students also get the hands-on experience they need to thrive in the industry and the knowledge that they played a valuable role in moving towards a greener world by contributing to sustainable innovation in the transportation industry.

To further highlight Cadence’s commitment to education and supporting our community, we’ve also established a multi-year partnership with the San Francisco 49ers revolving around technology, sustainability, and giving back to the Bay Area community. As an Official Technology Partner of the 49ers, Cadence will consult with the NFL franchise and Levi’s® Stadium on strategies to optimize energy performance and operations.

This is just part of how we’re supporting academia in developing our future workforce. We continue to establish new collaborations, identify areas for growth, and learn from experts in the academic community to guide how best we can support future innovators. Reach out to us if you have an opportunity for collaboration, are interested in potential sponsorship, want to leverage industry-leading tools for the classroom or lab, access to technical trainings or more – we are here for you!