US-based EDA company impressed with Lankan engineering graduates
Tuesday, 3 September 2013 00:00
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By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
A leading solutions provider to the global consumer electronics industry commended the talent pool in Sri Lanka last week, saying graduates in the country were highly productive compared to others in the region.
Atrenta Inc. a US based Electronic Design Automation (EDA) company founded in 2001 is part of the US$ 5 billion market that is composed of nearly 250 companies. Within just 12 years since establishment, the entity has grown to become the largest private EDA company in the world.
Headquartered in San Jose, USA, the electronics solutions provider is present in 10 other countries across the globe which includes France, UK, Germany, Israel, India, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Sri Lanka.
Speaking to journalists during an interactive forum held in Colombo, Atrenta President and CEO Ajoy Bose expressed that the local talent stands out when comparing to the neighbouring countries. “The talent we have found in Sri Lanka is exceptional. We can say that the talent here rivals the quality of graduates from tier-1 schools in India,” he said.
Bose added that the decision to move into Sri Lanka was certainly worthwhile as in terms of numbers employed, the centre here is observed to be the company’s fastest growing and second largest R&D facility next to India.
Being the first EDA company to set foot in the nation, Bose opined Atrenta’s presence in the country provides new employment opportunities for engineering graduates and greatly for those in the field of electronics. Working closely with the University of Moratuwa, Peradeniya, and Colombo, Atrenta has so far provided employment for 35 fresh graduates and plans to increase this number to 50 by the end of 2013.
An employer for over 300 professionals, the EDA company has 75% of its human resource allocated to the R&D function.
Bose elaborated that Sri Lanka has been a highly productive addition to Atrenta’s worldwide R&D location. “We ventured into this region for three reasons. The first is that the quality of graduates in the field of engineering is very high. The second is that it is close to our R&D centre in India which allows easy sharing of resources. The third is that the wage rate is highly competitive comparing to other countries in the South Asia region,” he said.
When questioned on current R&D projects which the Sri Lankan t eam is working on, Bose said since the young engineers are fresh out of university, they are at present testing the viability of Atrenta’s own products. “They are in the process of getting familiar with the technologies used by us through vigorous in-house training. We are confident they will soon be able handle our clients as well,” he stated.
To better understand the work carried out by the EDA company, Bose shared the activities and involvement of Atrenta in the consumer electronics industry. He noted that the company provides software tools and services that help assist the functional verification of system-on-chip (SoC) devices during the early stages of the design process. Atrenta has extended its services to over 200 customers which includes big names such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), LG, and Qualcomm, to name a few.
According to Bose, Antrenta’s products allows designers to know as early as possible if their product design will meet the expectations in terms of power, performance and cost. “With the solutions offered by Atrenta, companies are able to easily achieve 40% reduction in design time 30% less iterations,” he stated.
To further strengthen its presence in Sri Lanka, Antrenta recently added University of Moratuwa Head of Electronics & Telecommunication Engineering Department Dr. Ajith Pasqual to its Asia Technical Advisory Board. He is the first and only Sri Lankan national to be appointed to the board which comprises of four members who are from China, Japan and Korea respectively.
Acknowledging the contribution made by Atrenta to the country, Dr. Pasqual said: “A major deficiency in Sri Lanka was the lack of opportunities for EDA development in the local industry. This posed as a limitation as our graduates couldn’t make use of their expertise. The presence of Atrenta in Sri Lanka has had a profound impact on the mind-set of undergraduates. Now many are confidently choosing EDA as their preferred career path.”
According to him, the establishment of the EDA company has also encouraged the Department of Engineering to fast track the integration of IC design into the curriculum.
