BANGALORE: Mentor Graphics Corporation a leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, and SiliconIndia announced the 2015 Leadership Awards for the Embedded/VLSI Industry. Started in 2010, the SiliconIndia - Mentor Graphics Leadership Awards for the Embedded/VLSI Industry is a one-of-a-kind annual awards program, honoring the best in the VLSI/Embedded industry. In its sixth year, these awards recognize the contribution of various companies/individuals in driving the semiconductor industry.

The event took a great start with a panel discussion on “The Future is Consolidation in the Semiconductor Industry? Is this True?” and the panelists were Dr. Satya Gupta, Co-Founder & CEO, Concept2Silicon Systems; Sumeet Mathur, CEO, Cirel Systems; Sanjay Palsamudram, Co-Founder & COO, SmartPlay Technologies; Dr. V. Kamakoti, Prof - Dept of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Madras; Dr. Walden. C. Rhines, CEO & Chairman, Mentor Graphics and it was well steered by Santhanakrishnan Raman, MD, LSI India R & D, an Avago Technologies Company

While discussing on the topic, Sumeet added that the key motivations for the consolidation are financial and not necessarily an indicator that the larger players are likely to reduce R&D spends is a key take away for all stakeholders in the industry . We at Cirel Systems hold the view that industry at large and startups in particular will continue to innovate and make semiconductors relevant to wider base of verticals, though a smaller percentage of these developments will be in the leading technology nodes.

During the discussion Dr. Wally said, low interest rates are the primary driver of the current consolidation. Longer term, new technology keeps changing the leadership in the semiconductor industry and the startups of today will be the leaders of tomorrow.

While concluding the discussion Raman said that the panelists felt optimistic about the future of semiconductor ecosystem despite the increased pace of consolidation. Also, the consensus opinion of the panel was that the wave of consolidation will propel more startups to emerge and that will sustain the pace of innovation that has been the hallmark of the semiconductor industry.

The winners of these prestigious awards were chosen by a panel of judges consisting of eminent business leaders: Dr. Srinivas Mandavilli, Country Head, Imagination Tech. India; Sudarshan Iyengar, VP and MD, Microchip Tech. India; Santhanakrishnan Raman, MD, LSI India R & D, an Avago Tech. Company; Rajendra Kumar Khare,

Founder, Chairman and MD, Surewaves; Vivek Sharma, Regional VP, STMicroElectronics and Vinay Shenoy, MD, Infineon Tech. India.

The winners for this year, by category, are:

Best VLSI/ Embedded Design -  MNC: Avago & IBM

Best VLSI/ Embedded Design - Established Indian Company: Aricent Technology

Best VLSI/ Embedded Design - Startup product: Asarva Technologies, Geo-Semiconductors

Best VLSI/ Embedded Design - Start up Services: Ensilica

Best VLSI/ Embedded – Government: BEL and C-DAC

Best Electronic System Design Company – MNC:  Honeywell

Best Electronic System Design Company - Established Indian Company: Tata Power SED

Best Electronic System Design Company – Startup: HAL Edgewood (HETL)

Best Electronic System Design company – EMS: Kaynes Technologies

Award for Promising Entrepreneur in Semiconductor and Systems Space:

Navin Chava, Sicon Tech and A. Harsh, Wuerth Electronics

Outstanding Contribution to VLSI/ Embedded Design Industry – Individual:

Prof Kamakoti, IITM and Pradeep Vajram, Aricent - Smartplay

Innovative Product Company – MNC: Landis + Gyr and Minda Stoneridge

Innovative Product Company – Indian: Bloom Energy and Secure Meter

Outstanding Contribution to VLSI/ Embedded Design Industry – Corporate: HCL & Pricol

Outstanding Contribution to VLSI/ Embedded Design Industry - Academic Institution: IITM & IIT-Hyd

Engineers Choice Award: Individual HimamshuKhasnis, CEO, SignalChip

“In five years of acknowledging the outstanding achievements of India's electronic design talent, I have been continually impressed by the entrepreneurship and can-do creativity displayed,” said Walden C. Rhines, CEO and Chairman, Mentor Graphics. “It's no surprise that India has such a great future in the electronics industry.”

Pradeep Shankar, Editor-in-Chief, SiliconIndia added, “Six years back, when we instituted the leadership awards along with Mentor Graphics, we had 8 different categories of award. Over the years we have expanded and acknowledged the contribution of individuals and companies. We are happy that this year we are recognizing the winners in 16 categories.”
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