Seminar on Campus to Corporate in VLSI Design
23rd August 2024
IEEE Student Chapter and Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Dronacharya College of Engineering, Gurugram conducted a seminar entitled "Campus to Corporate in VLSI Design" with the theme ‘Connecting Students to the Semiconductor Industry’ on 23rd August 2024. The Speaker of the session was Mr. Rajat Kumar (Founder and CEO of VLSI for All Pvt. Ltd.) 40 students attended the seminar. Dr. Seema (Faculty, DCE) was the faculty coordinator of the seminar. With his rich experience and expertise, Mr. Kumar shared his vision on the changing horizon of the semiconductor industry, focused on VLSI technology, which is very pivotal to the design and fabrication of integrated circuits.
Dr. Isha Malhotra (Principal, DCE) welcomed Mr. Rajat Kumar by presenting him with green compliment. Rajat Kumar commenced the session by introducing VLSI technology, elaborated the importance of the stream in the contemporary electronics industry. He gave the historical perspective outlining the development of semiconductor devices from simple transistors to complicated integrated circuits used today. The main portion of the seminar was spent on the discussion related to the VLSI design process, which is the key to chip fabrication. Mr. Kumar further explained that the two major stages of VLSI design are: Frontend Design: This stage includes tasks like logic design, verification, and synthesis which define the functionality of the chip.
Backend Design: At this stage, the physical layout of the chip is done through placement and routing, timing analysis, and design rule checks. He explained the significance of each stage and how they are interrelated to make a useful semiconductor chip.
Mr. Rajat Kumar very aptly and conclusively told about the increasing demands of VLSI experts within the semiconductor industry. He emphasized the various roles one can take up right from a design engineer and a verification specialist to a physical design engineer or an EDA tool developer. He advised on how students could be industry ready for a VLSI career. He said one has to focus well on core subjects such as digital electronics, microelectronics, and signal processing. He also encouraged students to go for internships, relevant workshops, and to gain VLSI certifications for deep knowledge and skills.
In the end, an interactive question-and-answer session took place where students asked questions from Mr. Kumar related to VLSI technology and career opportunities. Mr. Kumar answered various queries, which were very lucid and action-oriented.
Benefits/Outcome: The seminar gave students a good insight into VLSI technology and how important that is for the semiconductor industry. Students learnt more about the process of VLSI design and the many opportunities available in this field.