Cadence, Coventor, X-FAB and Reutlingen University are launching a MEMS design contest to encourage the development of innovative MEMS and mixed-signal designs.

The first-prize winner will receive a $5000 cash award, have their design manufactured at X-FAB’s wafer production facilities and get a free one-year license of Coventor’s MEMS design software.

The second and third prize winners will receive $2,000 and $1,000 cash prizes respectively, along with a private tour of X-FAB’s foundry facilities.

The contest registration is open until December 31, 2016, and entries can be registered at http://info.coventor.com/mems-design-contest-2018.

To support contest registrants, the organizers will provide free training workshops to help participating design teams become familiar with the design tools, methodologies and process technologies needed to create their MEMS and mixed-signal designs.

Participants will also receive free access to various IP blocks that can be used as part of their design such as digital SC, I/Os, RAM and ROM blocks.

The contest results will be announced, and prizes will be awarded at the annual Cadence user conference, CDNLive EMEA, in Munich, Germany, in 2018.

The key dates for the contest are:

December 31, 2016: Entry deadline
March 1, 2017: Entry acceptance notification; design phase starts
December 31, 2017: Design submission deadline
February 28, 2018: Prize announcements
CDNLive EMEA 2018: Awards ceremony