Universalization of IC Design from CASS (UNIC-CASS)

The Universalization of IC Design from CASS (UNIC-CASS) program is a structured end-to-end Integrated Circuit (IC) design-to-test experiential learning. The program aims to improve the know-how and accessibility to IC Design technologies for enthusiasts and design communities worldwide in low-to-middle-income and/or low-opportunity countries. This program is of strategic cooperation with the Solid-State Circuits Society serving geographical-complementing locations.

The IEEE Circuits and Systems Society (CASS) invites you to participate in the Universalization of IC Design from CASS (UNIC-CASS) program, a structured end-to-end Integrated Circuit (IC) design-to-test experiential learning. The program aims to improve the know-how and accessibility to IC Design technologies for enthusiasts and design communities worldwide in low-to-middle-income and/or low-opportunity countries. This program is of strategic cooperation with the Solid-State Circuits Society serving geographical-complementing locations.

There are no restrictions to designing your ideal chip on design complexity or type (digital, analog/RF, or mixed-signal). Based on the quality of their submitted chip design proposals, selected participants will get the opportunity to learn from carefully curated materials on the CASS MiLe platform, hands-on design mentoring by experts in the field, submit designs to CASS-sponsored fabrication runs via Efabless chipIgnite program and test your fabricated chip at selected testing facilities.

UNIC-CASS Materials & Tools

GitHub  UNIC-CASS Slack Channel  CASS Microlearning

UNIC-CASS Training Materials (GitHub)

UNIC-CASS Mentoring Session Recordings & Presentations

Benefits

  1. Learn by experience on IC conception, functional specifications, design and verification of IC, silicon fabrication, and chip test/bring-up.
  2. Hands-on design experience using open-source Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools and Open PDKs.
  3. Enhance students' professional careers in this exciting and challenging field of turning system ideas into real electronic circuits.

How to Participate

  1. Form a team of 3 to 5 members, undergraduate and graduate-level students (until 31 December 2023). At least 3 team members must be IEEE CASS members (for 2023 and 2024). 
  2. Invite one faculty member as a supervisor/mentor to your team. 
  3. Register for this program by submitting a proposal containing "design title", “team composition (students and supervisor/mentor)”, "description of the design idea", "block diagram" and "expected outcome". You may use these open-source silicon project 1, project 2 and many others as a reference. Submit your proposal here before the deadline.
  4. Attend design review mentoring sessions scheduled once every two weeks through Zoom or Webex with CASS mentors. Our expert-in-the-field volunteers, including IC design professionals, professors, and advanced graduate students, will meet online to answer questions and interact with your design team.
  5. Travel (one representative from each team) to the CASS testing hub for the chip testing activities.

Important Dates

  • 22 June  2023 - First Call for Participation
  • 28 July 2023 - Deadline for Proposal submission. (extended)
  • 15 17 August 2023 - Result announcement (delayed due to deadline extension)
  • 15 August - November 2023 - 
    Learn from specially curated educational materials
    Design-to-Tapeout Mentoring sessions
  • November 2023 - Deadline for Layout submission 
  • April 2024 - Chip test/bring-up

 

Proposal Submission Form

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Inquiries

Any additional inquiries should be directed to the CASS Operations Office ((Click to show email)) and the VP - Education and Communications ((Click to show email)).