EDA Is Advancing – but Where Are the Women?

1981 marked the beginning of EDA as an industry. Within a few years there were many companies specializing in EDA, each with a slightly different emphasis.  As the industry has matured over the decades, it has revolutionized how electronic devices interact with the world.

The EDA industry is booming with new technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence, but there is still little change when it comes to women opting for a career in EDA. The cutting-edge innovations in the EDA industry are driving billion-dollar investments and increasing competition around the world.  Big tech companies agree on where we’re heading – dominated by smart machines. But where are the women in this space?

Why EDA Has Not Always Been a Charm for Women

• Access to Education
  The EDA industry requires an expertise in the field of electronics, which historically has not been easily accessible by the women in some areas across the globe.
• Lack of Awareness
  Being a niche industry, EDA as whole lacks awareness. Major EDA players need to take the initiative to bring awareness to the industry.
• Few Role Models
  Like most STEM fields, the EDA industry is predominantly male. For young female engineers, there are few women to look to for mentorship.

How EDA Can Welcome More Women in

Recognition
EDA organizations have introduced awards to acknowledge accomplishments by women in EDA, for example the Marie Pistilli Award announced every year at DAC. Awards alone may not motivate women to pursue a career in EDA, but these awards do bring needed recognition to the importance of women in EDA.

Opportunities
My firm, Agnisys, has always encouraged my fellow female colleagues to represent our team by presenting upcoming EDA technologies and advancements. Here are few examples:

Presentation: Implementation-Level Sequence Generator for Perspec™ at CDNLive 2019
Presenter: Neena Chandawale, Agnisys Application Engineer

Presentation: Using Machine Learning in Register Automation and Verification at DVCon US 2019
Presenter: Nikita Gulliya, Agnisys R&D Engineer

Live Webinar: Registers and Sequences: Design/Verification Best-Practices for Vertical Reuse

Date: Thursday, May 9, 2019

Presenter: Nikita Gulliya, Agnisys R&D Engineer

This level of visibility not only provides the presenters with well-deserved recognition opportunities, it also raises the level of visibility of women in EDA in general. With continued and increased leadership in this area on the part of major EDA companies, together we can encourage more young women to pursue careers in EDA.