Prof Rui Martins, vice rector (research) of the University of Macau (UM) and director of the UM State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI (AMS-VLSI Lab), received the Outstanding Service Award from the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Council on Electronic and Design Automation, at the 22nd IEEE/ACM Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference (ASP-DAC) held in Tokyo, Japan, in recognition of his outstanding service to the electronic and design automation (EDA) community as the general chair of ASP-DAC in 2016.

Thanks to the support of colleagues from the AMS-VLSI Lab, the IEEE Macao Joint-Chapter on Circuits and Systems/Communications (CAS/COM), and the Macao Society of Biological Engineering, as well as colleagues from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, the ASP-DAC 2016 held in Macao last January was a great success.

The ASP-DAC 2016 attracted 233 registered participants from 19 countries and regions, among whom 214 were from the academia and 19 were from related industries. The conference in Macao received 299 regular papers from 27 countries and regions. After rigorous and thorough reviews by the Technical Program Committee and a full-day face-to-face meeting with the authors, 94 papers were accepted and 24 technical sessions were organised. Eight special sessions were also organised based on talks by speakers invited by the Technical Program Committee. The ASP-DAC 2016 arranged for five keynote speakers to speak at the beginning of each day to discuss the future directions of this area.

 Like other similar conferences such as the Design Automation Conference, Design, Automation & Test in Europe, and the International Conference on Computer Aided Design, the ASP-DAC is a high-quality conference in the field of EDA. Founded in 1995, the conference aims to provide a platform for researchers and designers from Asia and South Pacific regions to exchange ideas and understand the latest technologies in the areas of LSI design and design automation.