AnalogDesign

Professional Development in Action: Events of the Solid-State Circuits Society Chapter at Cinvestav

Professional Development in Action: Events of the Solid-State Circuits Society Chapter at Cinvestav 150 150 David Tadros

The Solid-State Circuits Society Chapter of the IEEE Student Branch at Cinvestav has been exceptionally active, excelling in organizing diverse talks and courses that have enhanced the expertise of its members and the broader student body.

Among standout activities, three talks were held in partnership with the Electron Devices Society (EDS) Chapter. These presentations addressed pressing topics for students and professionals. The first, “Work Experience at Quality Management Department at Infineon,” offered direct insights into quality management in the semiconductor industry. The second, “Infrastructure for the Design of Analog/Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuits in Industry,” examined real-world challenges and solutions in the design of integrated circuits. The third, “Use of FPGAs in the Semiconductor Industry,” detailed the role of FPGAs in industry projects and their influence on innovation.

Beyond these talks, the chapter has delivered targeted courses. Two have been offered so far: “RTL Design Course in Verilog Language” and “SystemVerilog for Verification,” providing students with tangible skills in circuit design and verification.

One of the most notable activities was the chapter’s collaboration in the course organized by Cinvestav – Zacatenco to conduct the “Digital IC Design Academy” by Synopsys. This seven-week course covered crucial topics, including verification, logical synthesis, physical synthesis, and advanced topics, culminating in a closing session. The course featured the participation of eight instructors and three evaluators, ensuring a comprehensive and high-quality learning experience.

These initiatives not only enhance students’ technical skills but also foster collaboration among IEEE branches, speeding up the professional development of future engineers.

Written by: Lizette Adriana Zebadua-Chavarría

Summer 2025 events in the UK and Ireland SSCS Chapter

Summer 2025 events in the UK and Ireland SSCS Chapter 150 150 David Tadros

This summer, the UK and Ireland SSCS Chapter was delighted to host a pair of distinguished lectures at Tyndall National Institute, Cork, bringing together international leaders in solid-state circuits to engage with the local research community.

The series began on 19 June with a talk by Professor Seung-Tak Ryu from KAIST, South Korea, titled “Continuous-Time Delta-Sigma Modulators with SAR-Assisted Digital Noise Coupling.” Professor Ryu introduced several cutting-edge ΔΣ modulator architectures, offering detailed explanations of their design and operation. He shared elegant solutions to stability challenges and highlighted key trade-offs in loop design. His clear presentation resonated strongly with the audience of academic researchers and industry-based ADC designers, who valued both the technical depth and the practical insights he provided.

Fig 1: In-Person attendees at Prof. Ryu’s talk

On 10 July, the Chapter welcomed Professor Ulkuhan Guler from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA, who presented her lecture on “Next-Generation Wearable Blood Gas Monitors for Enhanced Patient Monitoring.” Professor Guler outlined the urgent clinical need for non-invasive blood gas monitoring as an alternative to invasive gold-standard techniques. She introduced bio-luminescence as a promising sensing approach, and discussed the novel circuits, signal processing, and system-level strategies required to overcome challenges such as drift and reproducibility. The talk drew a diverse audience, including IC designers and biomedical scientists at Tyndall, who engaged in lively discussion about the potential for such technologies to transform patient care.

Together, these two events highlighted the breadth of applications and impact that circuit and system innovations can achieve—from high-performance data converters to wearable biomedical devices. They also underscored the Chapter’s role in fostering dialogue across disciplines and connecting academic and industrial communities. The UK and Ireland SSCS Chapter looks forward to continuing this tradition of hosting world-class speakers and providing opportunities for knowledge exchange across the solid-state circuits community.

Fig 2: In-Person attendees at Prof. Guler’s talk

Written by: Daniel O’Hare and Vishal Jagtap