Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits Will Be Topic at Conference : SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

Seven years ago, Pat Pastilli remembers, organizers of the Design Automation Conference were excited that a Chinese scientist was to present that country’s first technical paper at the electronics industry conference and trade show.

“I went to see the presentation and was surprised to see everyone walking out in the middle of it,” recalled Pastilli, a former Bell Labs engineer who founded the Design Automation Conference 25 years ago. “The technical information was that poor.”

Times have certainly changed. At this year’s conference, which runs Sunday through Thursday at the Anaheim Convention Center, the award for the best technical paper will go to a university scientist from--you guessed it--China.

The conference is expected to attract several thousand electrical engineers, about 20% of them from outside the United States. Industrial competitiveness will be an issue on the minds of many U.S. electronics company representatives.

The main topic of the conference will be the computer-aided design and manufacturing of integrated circuits--the building blocks of computers and a wide array of electronic equipment.

“We’ve lost a lot of the U.S. electronics industry overseas because we’ve lost a lot of our cost competitiveness,” Pastilli says. “In order to maintain a competitive edge, we must have a good (computer chip) design process and be cost-competitive. And that’s what this conference is all about.”

Pastilli says the list of conference registrants reads like a “who’s who” of the electronics industry. Some major computer companies such as IBM, AT&T; and Hewlett-Packard are sending 100 engineers apiece to the five-day show.

The conference is being held in Anaheim for the first time. Pastilli, who runs a Boulder, Colo., trade show management company, said Anaheim was selected because of its large convention center. Another reason, he added, “is because the total number of electrical engineers within 50 miles of this spot is astronomical.”

For information about the show, call the conference organizers at (303) 530-4333.