Electrical design automation: an essential part of a computer engineer´s education

There has been an explosion in engineering technology, due in large part to design automation tools. It is obvious that engineers need to learn to use these tools, but we would insist that it is equally important for engineers to learn the principles upon which these tools are based. Such knowledge allows engineers to play an active role in the development of new tools, and to formulate realistic expectations about future developments in design automation. We identify three major areas of electrical design automation, physical design automation, simulation, and high-level synthesis. We have developed course requirements for each area, and provide a list of important topics within each area. For each of the areas, we identify textbooks and other educational materials. We also provide recommendations for laboratory exercises, and provide pointers to course materials on the world wide web.