World 3rd for ECS Student in International Microelectronics Competition

A student from Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton has achieved third place – and best in the UK – in the ninth annual International Microelectronics Olympiad.

Zoltán Beck, a PhD student in the Agents, Interaction and Complexity research group, was one of 856 participants from 22 countries to take part in the two-stage competition testing the skills of young microelectronics engineers. The first stage involved a written test establishing a baseline understanding of electronic design concepts and techniques. From this, Zoltán was among 42 successful candidates to qualify for an all-expenses paid trip to Synopsys’ headquarters Armenia in October to participate in the final stage of the competition.

Olympiad topics for 2014 included Digital IC Design and Test, Analog and Mixed-Signal IC Design and Test, Semiconductor Devices and Technology, and Mathematic and Algorithmic Issues of Electronic Design Automation (EDA). The final stage of the competition involved a challenging contest consisting of advanced engineering tasks requiring complex solutions.

The event is held in cooperation with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Test Technology Technical Council and its mains sponsors are Synopsys Armenia and VivaCell-MTS. Zoltán Beck’s prize was sponsored by the Enterprise Incubator Foundation.