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Design007-Sept2018

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26 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2018 to expect that to happen in the EDA world and in PCB design. Mentor, as part of Siemens, is well positioned to take advan- tage of Siemens' delivery of a digital thread, which includes product design, manufacturing process, and product performance. We will be able to capture and rationalize data from a myriad of sources like requirements, actual man- ufacturing data, or field performance, and use that intelligent data to drive better design practices. The basis of our future AI won't be built on design automation alone, but on predictive principals based on actual manufacturing and field per- formance. Shaughnessy: Can you describe what Mentor is doing in AI? Musto: Being part of Siemens gives us real advantages to deliver cutting-edge solutions to our customers. A key area of investment is in simulation technologies and in design explora- tion and design recommendations. Shaughnessy: What consumer applications have you seen that use AI? Musto: Obviously, I am a gadget freak. I have home automation assistants in my house. All of us are familiar with Amazon and digital services like Netflix or Spotify that give users recommendations based on past consumption behavior and search history. Can you imagine these applications in EDA? Like implementa- tion wizards based on predictive analytics, simulation models, manufacturing resources and availability, or field performance. Shaughnessy: Should designers be worried that they'll be out of a job if AI has a greater role in EDA? Some designers tell me, "We're the AI!" Musto: Obviously, the topic of AI brings anxiety to any workforce. My rec- ommendation is that we focus on the upside ver- sus downside. We have been here before with automation, like Mentor's automated Sketch Router technology, or our concur- rent platforms for design collaboration. All of these met some resistance in that productivity advances could eliminate skilled workforces. This simply did not happen. What has happened is that design teams are much more productive than ever, and design starts seem to be increasing all the time. These automated technologies actually allowed design teams to invest more time in design innovation. With designs becoming more complex and with increased electronics content in every- thing, it's hard to imagine that AI will com- pletely replace entire workforces. What it will mean is that our expertise will be focused on areas where we are underinvesting now, such as better simulation techniques or innovation initiatives in product design or packaging. With the electronics industry growing at an amazing pace, it's hard to imagine the work ending any time soon. If anything, we need more engineers to apply these emerging tech- nologies, and Siemens is committed to indus- trial digitization and innovation. Shaughnessy: Sounds like we're in a really interesting time, for designers and for EDA companies. Thanks for your time, Paul. Musto: Thank you, Andy. Always good to talk with you. DESIGN007 Paul Musto

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