Design automation at Southern Methodist University

Abstract

The growing importance of computer aided design is difficult to ignore. As systems become more complex and design lead times shrink, manual design techniques have proven inadequate, or at best very costly. Utilization of computers to reduce design time and cost has been advertised as a solution to this problem, but automated design methods also have drawbacks. For example, design automation (D.A.) is an immature discipline, suffering from many of the difficulties encountered in the evolution of a new specialization. Moreover, costs are high and outcomes are uncertain. The foundations upon which D.A. rests are themselves unsettled. Computer “Science” is still somewhat an art and manufacturing technology changes rapidly in some areas of application. Because D.A. is such a new discipline, very few practitioners have been formally trained in this field. There is, however, a recognized need for more entry level engineers and applied scientists with backgrounds in Design Automation. This paper briefly describes current D.A. teaching and research activities at Southern Methodist University, and suggests some of our future directions.