Welcome to DACeZine

The Design Automation Conference (DAC) is the premier event for the EDA industry.  It allows the EDA industry to showcase the newest technical innovations, to hear and discuss worldwide research efforts, and to provide a networking environment for EDA professionals and electronics designers.  The latter should not be confined to a once-a-year event, and DACeZine, the Design Automation Conference magazine,  aims to encourage the dissemination and sharing of news, opinions, and analysis of and about the EDA industry.
Following the success of DAC’s newsletter, DACeZine offers expanded editorial coverage as well as an opportunity for its readers to interact using various channels, two of which - Viewpoint Articles and Letters to the Editor - are available immediately.  DACeZine is meant to serve the electronics design and EDA community at large, and provide a venue for thoughtful analysis and discussion of topics relevant to the industry.

How it came about
The idea of publishing an electronic magazine was first suggested by Nanette Collins, DAC Public Relations Chair.  The proposal received enthusiastic support from the DAC Executive Committee.  Cook Design, together with MP Associates, have provided the technical expertise to design the format and enable the production and distribution of the magazine.
The DAC sponsors, ACM, IEEE, and EDAC have also supported the need to build an additional communication channel for our industry around its preeminent yearly event, DAC.  Although the sponsors ably serve their own constituencies, they found it important to extend the conference's networking environment throughout the year.

The editorial team
The relationships built over the span of my career as an editor have given me the opportunity to assemble an impressive team of contributing editors. Richard Goering and Gary Smith, respectively the leading editor and leading analyst of our industry, are part of the team.  They join Peggy Aycinena who brings both technical knowledge and humanistic sensitivity to her coverage.  Geoffrey James contributes his knowledge of the business side of EDA and electronics design.  His contributions will complete the balance of the magazine's contents.  I am grateful to all of them for the interest and enthusiasm they have shown when approached with the idea of the DACeZine, and wish to thank both Peggy and Geoffrey for their past contributions to DAC’s Newsletter.  Additional editors and analysts will contribute their knowledge and opinions throughout the year.  We will also feature technical contributed articles from designers addressing timely issues about methods and tools, including issues relevant to the theme of the upcoming DAC: wireless design.

Communication is a two-way street
DAC is a service to the industry, and thus we need to listen to the professionals who work to keep EDA and electronics design exciting, challenging, and financially profitable.  As such we will host a Viewpoint article in every issue.  This issue features a Viewpoint by Rajeev Madhavan, Magma Design Automation Chairman and CEO, on DFM - one of my preferred editorial subjects for its complexity, ambiguity, and market uncertainty.
The DACeZine will also have a Letters to the Editor section to allow for shorter contributions to the contents and directions of the publication.  When necessary, answers to the letters will come from the appropriate member of the team (including our readers), since I do not (yet) hold the total knowledge of the industry within me.  I encourage all of you to write, either a Viewpoint or a letter, and state your opinions on matters that impact our industry, the contents of this publication, or, for that matter, the publication itself.  Send your letters to: