Design Automation Conference #61 Results

This was my 40^th Design Automation Conference and based on my follow-up conversations inside the semiconductor ecosystem it did not disappoint. The gauge I use for exhibitors is “qualified customer engagements” that may result in the sale of their products. This DAC was the best for that metric since the pandemic, absolutely.

The official numbers are out and support that sentiment:

DAC 2024 reported a remarkable 34% increase in paper submissions for the Research Track and a 32% increase in submissions for the Engineering Track, highlighting the rapid pace of innovation and the growing interest in the field. Additionally, AI sessions now constitute 13% of the conference, reflecting the rising importance of artificial intelligence in electronic design.

Conference attendance also jumped 8% compared to the previous year, as organizers welcomed a vibrant and diverse group of participants from academia, industry, and government sectors. This year’s event hosted 25 new first-time exhibitors, adding fresh perspectives and innovations to the exhibition floor.

DAC returns to San Francisco, June 22 – 26, 2025.  The call for papers and presentations will open October 1, 2024.

Preliminary figures for DAC 2024 in San Francisco:

• Full Conference & Engineering Track passes: 2,240
• I LOVE DAC passes: 2,338
• Exhibitors’ booth staff: 1,708

Total Attendee Registration: 6,286

Personally, I am disappointed it is in San Francisco again next year. If the organizers wanted to pump up the attendance numbers they should have it in San Jose or Santa Clara. In previous years Southern California locations (Orange County and San Diego) were really good as well. Even better, DAC should start traveling the U.S. again. The two DACs in New Orleans were crazy!

My first DAC was in Albuquerque, New Mexico which was very early for the EDA industry. In fact, I don’t think any of the EDA companies that exhibited then exist today. The next year it was in Las Vegas and that was a very big year for “networking”.  As they say, location, location, location.

I also think partnering with other conferences is a good idea. I don’t think collocating with Semicon West worked out as planned. It really is two different audiences. I attend both so this is my personal experience, observation, opinion.

I think partnering with the RISC-V ecosystem would be great. There is some good overlap and it would be a great addition and might encourage Arm to get back into DAC. IP has always been a popular category on SemiWiki so DAC should get more aggressive about IP exhibitor recruitment.

It is a shame the foundries abandoned DAC. Samsung Foundry dropped out this year and I expect Intel Foundry to drop out next year. It was a glorious time when TSMC, GlobalFoundries, UMC and even SMIC were at DAC. The foundry business really is the cornerstone of semiconductor design. Hopefully some of the boutique foundries without events of their own can come aboard the DAC train.

And yes, the big EDA companies are downsizing at DAC. I get this since they have their own events. CDNLive was excellent this year as was SNUG. In my opinion this presents more opportunity for the rest of the ecosystem, more customer engagement time.

I was on the fence about advising companies to exhibit at DAC this year and I regret that. Next year however I am fully behind it. The amount of qualified customer engagements at #61 DAC justifies it, absolutely.

About DAC
DAC, The Chips to Systems Conference (previously known as the Design Automation Conference) is recognized as the premier event for the design and design automation of electronic systems and circuits. A diverse worldwide community representing more than 1,000 organizations attends each year, represented by system designers and architects, logic and circuit designers, validation engineers, CAD managers, senior managers and executives to researchers and academicians from leading universities. Over 60 technical sessions selected by a committee of electronic design experts offer information on recent developments and trends, management practices and new products, methodologies and technologies. A highlight of DAC is its exhibition and suite area with approximately 150 of the leading and emerging EDA, silicon, intellectual property (IP) and design services providers. The conference is sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and is supported by ACM’s Special Interest Group on Design Automation (ACM SIGDA).

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