Student Design Contest

Synopsys India 2017 Custom Design Contest

The Synopsys University Program announces the 2017 student design contest in India featuring Synopsys Custom Design tools. This contest gives students the opportunity to showcase their talent in electronic design. Project designs will be judged by a committee of Synopsys technical staff based on the functionality and efficiency of the design, and on the team’s productivity. Teams selected to compete in the contest will receive a free 3-day training workshop hosted by Synopsys and the chance to win a cash prize.

Contest Scope:

  • Teams will create a complete schematic and DRC/LVS clean layout of a design according to contest specifications using the Synopsys Custom Compiler flow.
  • Teams will be required to use the Synopsys 32/28nm Interoperable Process Design Kit.
  • All designs submitted must be original work – designed and drawn by the student teams for this contest. Designs may not have been previously used or directly copied from other sources. This will result in immediate disqualification.

Prizes:

  • First place – 30,000 INR
  • Second place – 10,000 INR

Contest Rules:

  •  Maximum of one team per university/college/institution in India may be nominated.
  • Two students per team (final year Bachelor engineering students or Masters engineering students only)
  • One advisor (professor or department head) will nominate the team and act as sponsor and the first line of support for the team during the contest.
  • Cash prizes will be awarded equally between the student team members. (The advisors will not participate in cash prizes.)

Eligibility:

  • The affiliated university/college/educational institute is not required to be an existing Synopsys University Program customer in India with the necessary EDA tool access (see Required Skills & Tool Knowledge).
  • An individual may only be a member of one team and may only submit one contest entry.
  • Employees and contractors of Synopsys or its affiliated companies, and their parents, spouses, children, siblings, and members of their households, are not eligible to participate in the contest.
  • All team members must be eligible under the contest rules in order for any team member to receive a prize.

Required Skills & Tool Knowledge:

  •  Teams must be able to demonstrate working knowledge of the following technical skills:

- Analog integrated circuit features, design and analysis methods of basic analog circuits

- Principles of analog circuit techniques, variants, improvement methods of parameters, research of structures, analysis of different basic analog IC parameters

- Differential and operational amplifiers, switched capacitor circuits, oscillators, phase looked loops, data converters, secondary power sources, etc.

  •  Teams must have familiarity and experience using the following or equivalent tools/systems:

- Custom WaveView™, Custom Compiler™, HSPICE®, IC Validator, StarRC™

- Linux/Unix OS, including the usual commands needed for running EDA tools

How to Nominate a Team:

Teams can only be nominated by a university/college/institute professor or department head that will sponsor and support the team during the contest.

  • The contest is limited to 40 teams. Once all nominations are submitted and reviewed, teams will be notified of their status by July 2017.
  • Both team members must be available to attend one 3-day training workshop in either Hyderabad, Noida, or Bangalore . No funding will be provided by Synopsys for travel or stay during training*

Evaluation Criteria:

Project submissions will be evaluated by the contest committee members and judged based on the following criteria:

  • Functionality demonstrated through HSPICE simulations
  • Optimal area of layout that is DRC/LVS clean
  • Effective use of design productivity features available with the tool flow
  • Results that demonstrate close matching of given design specifications through pre-layout and post-layout HSPICE simulations

The decision to accept any contest entry and all judging decisions will be made by the contest committee in its sole discretion and will be final. In the event Synopsys determines that one or more prize winners are ineligible according to the contest rules, Synopsys reserves the option to award no prize, or to award a prize to an alternate contest participant.

Timeline:

 

Call for Team Nominations Opens July 2017
Deadline for Team Nominations August 2017
Selected Teams Notified August 2017
Tools/Methodology Training Workshop* & Contest Problem Statement Distributed August 2017
Schematics & Reports Due October 2017
Finalists Notified October 2017
Final Schematics, Layouts, and Reports Due November 2017
Winners Announced December 2017

*All teams are required to attend one 3-day training workshop. Training workshop details will be distributed to teams at a later date. No funding will be provided by Synopsys for travel or stay during training.

Additional Terms and Conditions:

  • Prize winners are responsible for any taxes on the prizes.
  • By entering the contest, all contest participants grant Synopsys the right to publicize the contest and its results and in connection therewith to use the name and likeness of the participant, without compensation, subject to applicable laws. Prize winners may be required to provide written consent to the use of their names and likeness for publicity and promotional purposes as a condition of receiving a prize. By entering the contest, all participants agree to all personal information uses and disclaimers as explained in Synopsys' Privacy Policy. Participation in this contest further constitutes participant’s full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these rules and Synopsys's Privacy Policy.
  • All materials submitted in connection with contest entries must be original works of the contest participants and must not violate any confidentiality or employment agreement or infringe the copyright or other intellectual property rights of any party. Materials submitted in connection with contest entries will not be returned.
  • Synopsys is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, illegible or misdirected email, for failed, partial or garbled computer transmissions, or for technical failures of any kind. Synopsys reserves the right to cancel or modify this contest if fraud, technical failures, or any other factor beyond Synopsys' reasonable control impairs the integrity of this contest as determined by Synopsys in its sole discretion.
  • Synopsys retains all rights in and to any Synopsys tools or other intellectual property made available in connection with the contest, the training sessions, and the Synopsys University Program.

For additional contest information, please contact us.