To meet the changing needs of today’s increasingly interconnected supply chain, SEMICON West has added eight vertically integrated forums to its 2016 lineup. The forums are designed to connect communities of interest, enabling business and technical professionals to collaborate and identify new opportunities. Forums feature technical experts, analysts, and leaders from many of the biggest names in electronics, including Cisco, Intel, and Samsung. To pre-register for SEMICON West, visit www.semiconwest.org by June 3 and save.

A key new addition, The Extended Supply Chain Forum, will explore strategic issues that impact the entire supply chain, bringing system integrators, designers, engineers, and manufacturers together to share new ways to boost performance and cost-effectiveness. Attendees will connect with suppliers of equipment, materials, and services used to manufacture next-generation products. The forum features three tracks:

1. IC Design Summit

• Design for Auto: The rapid growth of automobile electronics is driving demand for chips used in powertrain, infotainment, and driver assistance applications. As a result, electronic design automation, embedded software, and electrical systems are in high demand — panelists from Audi, Nissan, andMaxim Integrated.
• Design for Security: How to achieve trusted IC and products across the microelectronics value chain with chip-level, cyber, and network security — participants from DARPA, Cadence, and Rambus.

2. Analog and New Frontiers

• Market Drivers, Application and Design Requirements, and Supply Chain Challenges: Presenters from Cisco and Texas Instruments, among others, address how the need for efficient power management in smartphones and other devices is driving the analog IC market.
• Equipment Supplier Forecast and Challenges Specific to the Manufacture of Analog Devices: Will delve into issues impacting analog devices from a supplier’s perspective, including front-end processes, packaging, and test — speakers from Lockheed Martin, Mentor Graphics, and more.

3.  Smart Manufacturing

• Opportunities and Challenges for Next-Generation Manufacturing in the Value Chain: Will focus on how to integrate growing volumes of data across more areas to extract actionable information, while protecting IP — executive panelists from Intel, Siemens, and more.
• Profiting from Big Data Analytics and Advanced Process Control for Higher Yield, Higher Mix: Speakers from Microsoft and Samsung will expound upon the latest technical solutions for improving operations with IT.

Seven other forums at SEMICON West 2016 are: Advanced Manufacturing Chain Forum, Advanced Packaging Forum, Test Forum, Sustainable Manufacturing Forum, Silicon Innovation Forum, Flexible Hybrid Electronics Forum, and World of IoT Forum.

The industry is undergoing dramatic changes. SEMICON West 2016 has expanded its technical programming by nearly 40 percent to help attendees keep up with the transformation. The Extended Supply Chain Forum is free to all attendees, however pre-registration is required. To learn more about this year’s flagship event, visit www.semiconwest.org