Solido Siemens and the University of Saskatchewan

In my 40 years, I have worked for dozens of companies and just about everyone of them was acquired. Some of the acquisitions were accretive and some were not. Probably the best and most accretive one would be the Solido acquisition by Siemens EDA in 2017. I worked for Solido for ten years reporting to CEO Amit Gupta. I handled Taiwan and the foundry relationships, the most successful one being with TSMC of course. TSMC really put Solido on the map as both a customer and a great partner.

I have worked with companies all over the world but Solido was the first one based in Canada. It was also one of the best experiences of my career. I don’t think I have ever worked with a smarter group of people who were also fun to be associated with. Seriously, we had a LOT of fun traveling the world improving the quality of semiconductors and easing the design process.

Solido was founded in 2005 by Amit Gupta, who graduated from USask in 1999 with degrees in both EE and CS. Amit is now vice-president and general manager of Custom IC Verification at Siemens EDA and leads Solido’s products within the company. Berkely Design Automation and Fractal Technologies are also part of Amit’s domain, I worked for both BDA and Fractal as well. Siemens has the most aggressive acquisition group I have ever worked with but that is another story.

Siemens gift helps USask develop local talent in electronic chip design

The University of Saskatchewan (USask) has received a significant gift from Siemens to create a tenured professor chair in the USask College of Engineering for research and teaching that develops local talent in the large, fast-growing industry of electronic design automation (EDA).

“I am excited that Siemens is giving this gift to USask for the creation of the Siemens EDA Chair,” said Gupta. “The chair will advance EDA research and expertise of undergraduate and graduate students at USask that is critical in building the next generation of electronic devices. This will have a major impact on Saskatchewan’s technology sector.”

I chatted with Amit about this announcement and was not surprised to find out that Solido has aggressively recruited from USask. I remember when the acquisition happened, Solido had 50 employees in Saskatoon with the vast majority of them coming from USask. Today there are hundreds of employees in Saskatoon and more than 70% are from USask. By the way, Solido was one of the first companies to employ ML inside an EDA tool, another story as well.

The other part of this story is finding a Siemens EDA Chair. Applications are being accepted today!

Faculty, Siemens EDA Chair in Electronic Design Automation
Applications are invited from qualified individuals for a tenured or tenure-track faculty position in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The successful candidate will be appointed as the Siemens EDA Chair in Electronic Design Automation. The chairholder is expected to develop and teach courses in EDA at the graduate and undergraduate levels, establish a research program at the forefront of EDA development and compete successfully for external funding, engage with local industry working in the field, supervise student research, and undertake relevant administrative activities.

The University of Saskatchewan’s main campus is situated on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis. The University of Saskatchewan is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, a city with a diverse and thriving economic base, a vibrant arts community and a full range of leisure opportunities. The University has a reputation for excellence in teaching, research and scholarly activities and offers a full range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs to a student population of over 25,000.

The successful candidate must hold an earned Ph.D. in electrical or computer engineering or a closely related field and be eligible for registration as a professional engineer in Saskatchewan. We are seeking candidates who have demonstrated expertise in electronic design automation preferably in one or more of analog/mixed-signal verification, functional verification, verification methodologies for advanced process technologies, analog circuit simulation, statistical verification, custom verification, library characterization, or application of artificial intelligence techniques to EDA.  A publication record demonstrating research excellence and potential for establishing an independent research program is required.  Industrial experience in the design and application of EDA for custom IC verification is an advantage.  We are looking for a person with excellent communication and teaching skills and a demonstrated ability to work effectively in informal and formal groups with people from diverse communities, cultures and perspectives.  Depending on qualifications, appointment can be at the associate professor rank with tenure or at the tenure-track assistant professor rank.  Appointment with tenure requires a publication and teaching record that meets our standards for tenure.

Salary bands for this position for the 2024-2025 academic year are as follows:

Assistant Professor: $99,945 to $120,099; Associate Professor: $120,099 to $140,253

This position includes a comprehensive benefits package which includes a dental, health and extended vision care plan; pension plan, life insurance (compulsory and voluntary), academic long-term disability, sick leave, travel insurance, death benefits, an employee assistance program, a professional expense allowance, and a flexible health and wellness spending program.

Interested candidates must complete the applicant survey (link) and submit, via email, a cover letter; detailed curriculum vitae; a research plan outlining specific interests in EDA, a statement of teaching focus and philosophy including potential courses to be taught, a diversity statement explaining how you will contribute to equity, diversity and inclusion and the names and contact information of three professional references to:

Robert Johanson, Department Head
57 Campus Drive
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, SK S7N 4L3
Email:  engrfaculty.recruitment@usask.ca

Status: Tenure Track
Employment Group: USFA
Full Time Equivalent (FTE): 1.0
Posted Date: 6/27/2024
Closing Date: Until Filled

Due to federal immigration requirements, we also ask candidates to indicate whether they are Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or are otherwise already authorized to work at this position for the duration of the appointment, with an explanation if this last category is indicated.

Review of applications will be ongoing however, applications will be accepted and evaluated until the position is filled. The anticipated start date is September 1, 2024.

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