Update on the Special Panel on Green Technologies

Before attending the special panel, my opinion was that the connection between EDA and green technology is tenuous at best. I was hoping that the panel would prove me wrong. After attending the special panel, my opinion is that the connection between EDA and green technology is tenuous at best. To be fair, the panelists did outline a number of areas where folks who work on semiconductor technology, sensor and actuator networks, control systems and wireless communications could help increase the efficiency of energy production and reduce green-house emissions, but really, nothing specific to EDA.

Now, there is no reason why EDA folks shouldn't also look at these issues, but we do need to make a strong case that we bring something new to the table; that EDA experts would do a better job than experts who have been working on, for example, control systems for ages. Or maybe I'm just being too myopic?

In any case, here are some of the technology challenges that came up during the discussion -

• Smart electronics for metering electrical grids
• Sensor networks for monitoring buildings and efficient wireless communication networks to transmit the collected data
• Reducing data center power consumption
• Control system modeling for fuel efficient electric cars

To conclude, I really didn't think the panel was very appropriate for DAC. The panelists were clearly struggling, for no fault of theirs, to present opportunities relevant to the EDA community and mostly ended up speaking at length about their own endeavours.