Uniting Innovators: CIC 2025 Showcases Cadence’s One Team Culture

What happens when 500 Cadence employees from 22 countries come together to share their best ideas? CIC 2025 had the answer.

The Cadence Innovation Conference (CIC) is a vibrant celebration of our collective spirit of innovation. This June, global employees across disciplines came together to share ideas, grow their networks, and engage with senior leaders and peers in meaningful ways at this exciting employee conference. The first annual CIC was launched in 2022 as a forum for teams to network, share information, collaborate, and celebrate innovation.

A Record-Breaking Year

This year marked a significant milestone for CIC, with nearly 1,000 submissions of paper and poster proposals—more than double the number received in 2022. Employees across Cadence submitted these proposals for a chance to present their work at CIC, and the final program featured 70 paper presentations and 80 poster presentations. All were selected through a rigorous review process led by over 100 volunteers from across Cadence’s business units and global locations. The conference brought together more than 500 attendees from 22 countries, reinforcing CIC’s reputation as a hub for innovation, knowledge-sharing, and connection at Cadence.

Big Ideas and Hands-On Impact

CIC also welcomed two esteemed keynote speakers, setting the tone for a week of inspiration, cutting-edge insights, and cross-functional collaboration:

• Prof. Gianluca Laccarino, PhD, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
• Samir Mittal, PhD, CVP, Micron

The event also featured a hands-on volunteer activity supported by the Cadence Giving Foundation. Attendees built interactive circuit booklets for middle school students, bringing innovation and inspiration to the next generation. As Paula Mathias (System Verification Group) reflected, “While building a single educational kit might seem small individually, together our actions become part of something bigger.”

This year’s conference underscored how innovation at Cadence is fueled not just by technical breakthroughs, but by the people behind them. The event created space for recognition, learning, and connection across levels and geographies.

Opportunities to Innovate

CIC is designed to create space for employees to grow their impact by collaborating across disciplines and connecting with peers they might not work with day to day. For some, it was an opportunity to present their work on a global stage. For others, it meant serving as a reviewer, session chair, or poster session judge, gaining visibility and experience. Attendees also had a chance to ask meaningful questions to presenters and innovators across the company in a casual setting.

Recognizing Our Technical Chairs

CIC 2025 was made possible thanks to the leadership and vision of our dedicated technical chairs:

• Didem (General Chair)
• Rama (SSG)
• Krishna and Lars (DSG)
• Mitch and Tulio (SVG)
• Ksenia (CPG/SDA)
• Dan (CST)

Best Paper and Poster Winners

Track 1: Excellence in Design and Silicon

• First Place Presentation: Hanqi, DSG
  • Co-Authors: Miao, Richie, Frank, Rui, Guozhi, Fei, and Shengfei
• Second Place Presentation: H Md, SSG
  • Co-Authors: Vinod, Phalguni, Vipul, Hari, and Jitendra
• First Place Poster: Emmanuel, SSG
  • Co-authors: Mark, Johnathan, and Loren
• Second Place Poster: Jianjun, DSG
  • Co-authors: Mudit, Annie, Prabal, Sharad, Gaurav, Ashwath, and Krishna 

Track 2: Innovations in Analysis and Validation

• First Place Presentation: Chirayu, DSG
• Second Place Presentation: Neha, SNV
  • Co-authors: She, Geoff, David
• First Place Poster: Xiaoyan, SDA
  • Co-authors: Yingxin, Jiyue, Wang, Gang, and Jian
• Second Place Poster: Mateus, SVG
  • Co-authors: Nitesh and Glauber

Track 3: AI, Algorithms, and Pervasive Intelligence

• First Place Presentation: Dirk, SDA
  • Co-authors: Giacomo, Linjia, Junlong, and Xiaoliang
• Second Place Presentation: Christopher, CPG
  • Co-authors: Laurent, Ron, Chris, and Yu
• First Place Poster: Mark, CPG
  • Co-authors: Valery, Gopal, Pallavi, Jacob, Keith, and Pengcheng
• Second Place Poster: Mike, CST

Track 4: Routine Disruption: Productivity, Scalability, and Beyond

• First Place Presentation: Laurent, CPG
  • Co-authors: Olivier and Christopher
• Second Place Presentation: Mirlaine, SVG
  • Co-author: Augusto
• First Place Poster: Tomas, CPG
  • Co-author: Himanshu
• Second Place Poster: Niall, SSG
  • Co-author: Tadhg 

2025 BU Award Recipients

Each business unit (BU) leads its own selection process, tailored to what innovation and high performance look like in its teams. However, there is a shared goal: recognizing people who go above and beyond, those who collaborate with intention, solve problems creatively, or take the initiative to drive progress. There’s no rigid formula or checklist. Instead, leaders look for those who consistently raise the bar—whether by mentoring others, pushing boundaries on innovation, or collaborating in ways that unlock progress.

Digital and Signoff Group

• Ashwath – Visionary Awardee
• Nishant – Champion Awardee
• Milos – Technology Pathfinder Awardee
• Weihang – Rising Star Awardee
• Jan – Specialist Awardee
• Xiaoliang – Specialist Awardee

Silicon Solutions Group

• Sam – Visionary Awardee
• Gautam – Champion Awardee
• Anish – Technology Pathfinder Awardee
• Wentao – Specialist Awardee
• Didem – Team Lead Pathfinder Awardee
• Arun – Rising Star Awardee

System Verification Group

• Lu-An – Visionary Awardee
• Dharini – Champion Awardee
• Amy – Technology Pathfinder Awardee
• Jacob – Rising Star Awardee
• Abhishek – Team Lead Pathfinder Awardee
• Caitlin – Specialist Awardee

Custom Products Group

• Mohit – Champion Awardee
• Olivier – Technology Pathfinder Awardee
• Ting – Rising Star Awardee
• Arto – Team Lead Pathfinder Awardee
• Zejun – Specialist Awardee

System Design and Analysis

• Bing – Visionary Awardee
• Robert – Champion Awardee
• Gunjan – Rising Star Awardee
• Jacky (Chih-Jen) – Rising Star Awardee
• Wande – Rising Star Awardee

Customer Success Team

• Takumi – Champion Awardee
• Aleem – Team Lead Pathfinder Awardee
• Jonathan – Rising Star Awardee

Information Technology

• Rahul – Champion Awardee

Strategy and New Ventures Group

• David – Team Lead Pathfinder Awardee

A Moment to Reflect

Award recipients were honored at CIC in front of peers and senior leadership, and celebrated in a special awards dinner. For many, it was a meaningful moment to pause and reflect on the journey behind the work, made possible with collaboration, persistence, and shared purpose.

Congratulations to all CIC 2025 award recipients! Your innovative work is not only helping to shape the future of technology, but also exemplifies the power of our One Team Culture. CIC is a testament to what’s possible when our brightest minds come together to share breakthroughs, exchange ideas, and inspire one another across boundaries. We’re already looking forward to what next year’s CIC will bring.

Original blog piece written by Alisha Jain.