Five Indian universities/colleges adopt Synopsys' VLSI design curriculum

Synopsys has announced the adoption of its comprehensive VLSI design curriculum in five regional centers in India. They are Visvesvaraya Technologics University (VTU) in the State of Karnataka, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) Hyderabad in the State of Andhra Pradesh, North East Technical Education Society (NETES) serving the State of Assam and eight other North East states, Bhubaneswar Institute of Technology (BIT) in the State of Orissa, and Chitkara University in the States of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, where a Masters program in microelectronics was announced earlier.

Seer Akademi is an educational content provider for Synopsys University Programs, and its methodology focuses on a unique combination of local and online faculty with skill-matrix-based learning.

The curriculum offered in collaboration with Seer Akademi, the program features a computing environment, use of Synopsys software tools and IC design flow, and access to experienced faculty.

The curriculum will be used in classroom instruction, training and research to help advance the circuit design and fabrication knowledge of India's engineering graduates and working engineers. Courses will be conducted via interactive online webinars, social networking media and live sessions with academic and industry experts.

Synopsys says, new programs in embedded systems, alternate energy, electronics entrepreneurship and smart grid technology will also be created. Courses are planned to be available starting fall 2010.

The curriculum is part of the Synopsys Worldwide University Program, and developed by the Synopsys Armenia Education Department (SAED). This educational model of university-industry cooperation was successfully implemented in Armenia, Russia and China before being adopted by universities in India. Working with Seer Akademi, SAED will also provide the regional centers of excellence with the industry experts and academic faculty to supervise Master theses and PhD dissertations.

"Working with these regional centers of excellence is a key foundational step in enabling the developing Indian semiconductor industry by providing a skilled work force. Together, we intend to become an important source of this key resource," said Rich Goldman, vice president of corporate marketing and strategic alliances at Synopsys.

"With the growth of the electronics in India, we need to establish new ways to create a workforce skilled in using the latest advanced technologies or we may not be able to keep up with the opportunities that come our way," said Prof. Srikanth Jadcherla, chairman and CEO of Seer Akademi. "This initiative is powerful because it combines advanced education and research to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region. This ecosystem can play an important role in fostering the technology talent India will need. Synopsys has been successful in establishing practices to help develop a highly qualified workforce in several other countries. We want to bring this success to the Indian students."

"We see areas such as solar, wind and smart grids shaping the Indian landscape in the coming years," said Prof. Lalkishore, rector of JNTU Hyderabad. "We have hence initiated this collaboration with Synopsys and Seer Akademi to make this happen. Our graduates are sought the world over due to various such programs undertaken by JNTU Hyderabad."

"In the northeastern region of India, except for Assam, there was hardly any facility for technical education and advanced research until about five years back. Besides the governments, now the private engineering colleges are coming up with a mission and vision to initiate serious research and training facilities. NITS Mirza, under North East Technical Education Society is one such establishment that has forged ahead with generous support from Synopsys and Seer Akademi for training the engineering students for better employability," said Dr. A. K. Gogoi, president of NETES. "We have severe problems of communication in the region, coupled with getting qualified technical personnel. In this regard, Seer Akademi has helped us bridge the gaps, with Synopsys bringing us close to the international standards of training and research."

For more details visit www.seerakademi.com