The CADathlon is a challenging, all-day programming competition focusing on practical problems at the forefront of Computer-Aided Design and Electronic Design Automation in particular. The contest emphasizes the knowledge of algorithmic techniques for CADapplications, problem-solving and programming skills, and teamwork.
As the “Olympic games of EDA,” the contest brings together the best and the brightest of the next generation of CAD professionals. It gives academia and the industry a unique perspective on challenging problems and rising stars, and it also helps attract top graduate students to the EDA field.
The contest is open to two-person teams of undergraduate/graduate students specializing in CAD and currently full-time enrolled in a Ph.D. granting institution in any country. Students are selected based on their academic backgrounds and their relevant EDA programming experiences. Partial or full travel grants are provided to qualifying students (through ICCAD Student Scholar Program Grant). CADathlon competition consists of six problems in the following areas:
Circuit Design & Analysis
Physical Design & Design for Manufacturability
Logic & High-Level Synthesis
System Design & Analysis
Functional Verification & Testing
Future technologies (Bio-EDA, Security, AI, etc.)
More specific information about the problems and relevant research papers will be released online one week before the competition. The writers and judges who construct and review the problems are experts in EDA from both academia and industry. Students will be given the problem statements and example test data at the contest, but they will not have the judges’ test data. Solutions will be judged on correctness and efficiency. Where appropriate, partial credit might be given.
The team that earns the highest score is declared the winner. In addition to handsome trophies, the first-place and the second-place teams receive cash awards, and the contest winners will be announced at the ICCAD conference.
Cash Prize
- First Place Award: $1500 per person
- Second Place Award: $750 per person
Participation Request
Please submit your participation application via Google Form by October 10th, 2023
2023 Organization Committee
Chair: Andy, Yu-Guang Chen, National Central University, Taiwan
Co-chair: Jeff (Jun) Zhang, Arizona State University, USA
Co-chair: Zahra Ghodsi, Purdue University, USA
Co-chair: Pei-Yu (Billy) Lee, Synopsys, Taiwan