PSU Magazine Fall 1998

l I College of Engineering and Computer Science. In fact, PSU's engineering dean, Bob Dryden, is heading the statewide college, which links PSU, OSU , University of Oregon, and the Oregon Graduate Institute. It's hard to imagine that these new links could get any better, but they have. Thanks to a $1 million equ ip– ment donation from Credence Systems Corporation , Portland State now has a state-of-the-art integrated circuit lab that engineering schools around the country will envy. There are only a handful that have the capabilities that PSU now possesses. The donation was a piece of test equipment which allows the School to offer a complete academic program in integrated circuit design and manufac– ture (including next-generation process development), and electronic design automation . This puts PSU in a leadership posi– tion to serve the Portland area's sizable semiconductor industry, says Robert Daasch, an electrical and computer engineering fac ulty member. S emiconductors and inte– grated circuits are those tiny chips of electronic compo– nents that invisibly, yet indispensably, run our lives. They're in the clock radio that wakes you, the microwave that heats your oatmeal, the car or bus that gets you to work, the elevator that takes you up, the telephone and computer you work it's worth it, according to Mark Faust, C redence's director of OMS (digital mixed signal) business deve lopment. "Quality of education is a concern to us. Having access to students trained in automated test equipment, particularly our own , is an advantage in our own hiring and in that of our customers. We also expect we'll both benefit from joint research," says Faust. "Graduate thesis projects could easily take on the test world, and C redence will work with faculty and students on projects." The new high -performance test system is capable of testing both digi– tal and some mixed-signal devices. It runs at speeds of greater than 50 mega– hertz and accommodates chips of more than 288 pins. C redence, in addition to providing and maintaining the PSU faculty and University has 1tegrated circuit :am and a ronic design :nt donation ·esearch, partner– ab ilities for the m comes on the of the Integrated Circuit Design and Test Laboratory possible. Tualatin– based Summit Design donated $1 million worth of syst~ms- level design automation software; Intel Corporation donated more than $210,000 worth of computer equip– ment; and Tektronix continues to support the program through regular equipment donations-$2 million worth to date. Coming up next for the Engineering School are programs geared toward the working student and working professional, including a new undergraduate night program and new graduate degrees and certificates. They are providing the hottest new links between the School and its most important partner-students. D FALL 1998 PSU MAGAZINE 15