SAN JOSE, CA and NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - August 26, 2010) -  Pasquale (Pat) O. Pistilli, chairman of MP Associates of Louisville, Colo., will receive this year's Phil Kaufman Award for pioneering the electronic design automation (EDA) industry and building the Design Automation Conference as its premier showcase and networking platform.

Pistilli, recognized as an early driver in formalizing the EDA industry and founder of the Design Automation Conference (DAC), now in its 48th year, will be honored during the Phil Kaufman Award Dinner October 12 at the San Jose Marriott Hotel in San Jose, Calif. The yearly award is presented by the Electronic Design Automation Consortium (EDAC) and the IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA).

"Pat Pistilli was instrumental in creating the EDA profession," affirms Andreas Kuehlmann, Cadence fellow, director of Cadence Research Laboratories and president of CEDA. "He is highly deserving of the Phil Kaufman Award and we're delighted to present it to him."

"Pat brought together the design and EDA communities and academia in a way no one had ever done before," observes Alfred Dunlop of Crossbow Consulting LLC, founder of CEDA and this year's Kaufman Award presenter. "Early in his career, Pat developed tools to make hardware designers more productive. It is to his credit that DAC is what it is today, the focal point of users, EDA professionals and their academic counterparts."

Adds Dr. Walden C. Rhines, chairman of the EDA Consortium and chairman and CEO of Mentor Graphics Corporation: "With Pat's guidance, DAC has had a tremendous influence on the business, the commercialization of EDA software, hardware and services, and the promotion of the EDA and semiconductor industries."

Pioneer, Innovator, Developer, Inventor, Teacher, Mentor, Risk Taker

"I have known Pat Pistilli as a pioneer, innovator, developer of Computer Aided Design tools, inventor and teacher, mentor and risk taker," remarks Thomas Pennino of Thomas Pennino Technologies and a past DAC chair. "Recognizing its potential for transforming the electronics industry and the need to grow the profession, he co-founded DAC to promote and share technical advances in CAD across the electronics industry."

As a young engineer at Bell Labs, Pistilli started the Society to Help Avoid Redundant Effort (SHARE) Design Automation Workshop in 1964 as a way of networking and exchanging ideas about techniques for better automating electronics design. The first SHARE Workshop on Design Automation led to DAC and the focal point for the commercialization of EDA software and hardware.

Pistilli drove technology changes throughout his 25-year career at Bell Labs. While a member of the technical staff at Bell Labs, he was instrumental in developing numerous internal computer aided design (CAD) tools.

In 1984, DAC, a formerly all-volunteer undertaking, was poised for growth and required full-time management due to the availability of commercial EDA tools. Pistilli with his wife, Marie, formed MP Associates, Inc., to manage DAC and its newly created exhibition. The Pistillis retired from MP Associates in October 2000, although both remain as co-chairs of the board of directors.

In addition, Pistilli was instrumental in establishing the DAC Professional Development Fund to support the research community. This fund has awarded $2.5 million in scholarships, travel grants and student support over the past 15 years. The P.O. Pistilli ACSEE scholarship fund annually awards two $20,000 scholarships to students from underrepresented minorities to study Computer Science or Electrical Engineering.

Accolades for Pat Pistilli

Other past DAC chairs have paid tribute to Pistilli, including Ellen Yoffa, director of Information and Interaction at IBM Research, who notes: "As a founder of DAC and a passionate advocate for the industry and its practitioners, Pat Pistilli has touched the lives of many hundreds of people, ranging from high school students to the industry's most powerful CEOs, and has influenced the careers of many thousands more."

"I have known Pat Pistilli since I first presented a paper at DAC in 1979," says William Joyner, director of Computer-Aided Design and Test at Semiconductor Research Corporation. "Without the seminal impetus that he provided in the early days of design automation, and without a premier conference to highlight these results, the industry would not have progressed as a foundation of global electronics."

"Pat Pistilli has made huge contributions to the industry," explains Dick Smith, formerly university relations and sales support manager at Micro Magic, now retired. "For many years, he monitored the DAC Program Committee to make sure that the program was of the highest quality. This rigorous attention to technical excellence has set the tone for the conference all these many years."

"Pat's contributions to the field of Design Automation are unique and unprecedented," concludes Jan Rabaey, Donald O. Pederson distinguished professor of Electrical Engineering/Computer Science at the University of California at Berkeley. "It is my strong belief that without Pat's unwavering and relentless efforts over the last four decades, EDA would not be what it is today."

About the Phil Kaufman Award

The Phil Kaufman Award, presented annually since 1994, honors individuals who have had a demonstrable impact on the field of EDA. It was established as a tribute to deceased EDA industry pioneer Phil Kaufman, who turned innovative technologies such as silicon compilation and emulation into businesses that have benefited electronic designers. To register to attend, go to: www.edac.org/events10/kaufman/index.jsp.

About the EDA Consortium

The EDA Consortium is the international association of companies that provide design tools and services that enable engineers to create the world's electronic products used for communications, computer, space technology, medical, automotive, industrial equipment, and consumer electronics markets, among others. For more information about the EDA Consortium, visit www.edac.org.

About the IEEE Council on EDA

The IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA) provides a focal point for EDA activities spread across six IEEE societies (Antennas and Propagation; Circuits and Systems; Computer; Electron Devices; Microwave Theory and Techniques; and Solid State Circuits). It sponsors more than 12 conferences, including the Design Automation Conference (DAC), the International Conference in CAD (ICCAD) and Design Automation and Test in Europe (DATE). CEDA publishes IEEE Transactions on CAD and the IEEE Embedded Systems Letters. CEDA is increasingly involved in recognizing its leaders via the A. Richard Newton Award, Early Career Award and Phil Kaufmann Award. CEDA welcomes volunteers and local chapters. For more details, visit: www.c-eda.org.

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Note to editors:
A digital photo of Pat Pistilli is available upon request. Send requests to:
Nanette Collins
(617) 437-1822
nanette@nvc.com

Contact Information:

For more information, contact:
Nanette Collins
Public Relations for the IEEE Council on EDA
(617) 437-1822