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Brain-inspired integrated circuits lab: First Cadence certified lab in Central Asia  

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Brain-inspired integrated circuits lab is now certified by Cadence Design Systems, the leading IC design company, and Nazarbayev University becomes the first university in central Asia to join the Cadence ® Academic Network. The laboratory is led by Prof Alex James, and his team works on a range of problems in the emerging areas of hardware artificial intelligence chips including memristors, in-memory computing, analog neuromorphic computing, and electronics for deep learning. The lab members, Prof Grant Ellis, and Prof Vipin Kizheppatt, and Ms. Olga Krestinskaya (Ph.D. student) from the Electrical and Computer Engineering department are the first team members to complete the certifications for trainers. The lab has several ongoing collaborations with industry and academic institutions worldwide, where students get opportunities to continue their career. In the upcoming year, the lab will be offering short-term workshops for industry and students in Kazakhstan, and Europe, in the area of emerging analog/mixed-signal electronics.

The lab is certified for two years for IC Package Design, Custom Design Virtuoso Technology- Back End, Custom Design Virtuoso Technology- Front End, and Digital Design and Signoff. The certification was granted to the university after the completion of Cadence certified training by their teachers and examiners. With this certification, Nazarbayev University will be in a position to deliver leading-edge EDA solutions to their students and become recognized for using Cadence technologies as part of its curriculum. Earlier a year before, the university also became the first university in Kazakhstan to become a member of Europractice, opening up new frontiers in the development of Electronics industry in Kazakhstan.