Limits to IC Market Development: Product Development

Ulrich Schaefer, Bosch

Abstract:

From the expected development of the total worldwide IC market it will be shown, how the future number of needed IC designers develops during the next 15 years. A comparison with the actual number of engineering students, who are at the universities today, and younger school students, who may choose this profession in the near future, shows that there will be a wide gap between the demand and supply. In addition it seems from past experience that the advance of EDA tools especially for analog and mixed signal ASICs/ASSPs develops significantly slower than needed. Since the continually enhancing demand of manpower on designs can most probably not be fulfilled, the future increase of EDA tool complexity seems crucial for the continuation of the forecasted development of electronics.

This talk deals with the discrepancy between the diverging need of IC designers and the available junior staff, which can only be met by an enhanced development of EDA tools and methods.

Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Ulrich Schaefer studied physics at the universities of Braunschweig and Bonn until 1981 where he got his Ph.D. graduation in elementary particle physics. From 1981 to 1986 he worked on production planning and control, process development and purchase of equipment for thick film hybrid manufacturing at Blaupunkt in Hildesheim. In 1986 he joined the Robert Bosch GmbH in Reutlingen to work on process development of thick film hybrid manufacturing until 1989 and on design and layout of automotive ECUs, process development of PC-board production from 1989 to 1995. Since 1995 he is responsible for market research in semiconductors and the representation of Bosch at several industry associations e.g. EECA-ESIA, SICAS, WSTS, ZVEI.

Since 2004 he is member of the board of directors of the EECAESIA: and from 1999 to 2005 he was European vice chairman of the WSTS of which he became world chairman in 2008. Since 2002 he is also chairman of the semiconductor group in the ZVEI and member of the board of the division ECS (electronic components and systems).