Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS), a world leader in semiconductor design software, today announced that Synopsys Fellow Dr. Thomas W. Williams will be honored with the European Design and Automation Association (EDAA) Lifetime Achievement Award at the plenary session of the 2007 DATE Conference on April 17 in Nice, France. The Lifetime Achievement Award is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the state of the art in electronic design, automation and testing of electronic systems during their life. In order to be eligible, candidates must have made innovative contributions that had an impact on the way electronic systems are being designed.

In addition to his work at Synopsys, Dr. Williams is an adjunct professor at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Prior to joining Synopsys in 1998, Dr. Williams was manager of the VLSI Design for Testability group at the IBM Microelectronics Division in Boulder, Colo. He received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Clarkson University, a master's degree in pure mathematics from the State University of New York at Binghamton, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Colorado State University.

"Tom's contributions to the IC test industry are many and far-reaching, and this industry recognition is well deserved," said Dr. Antun Domic, senior vice president and general manager of Synopsys' Implementation Group. "Many of the test procedures used today are based on Tom's pioneering work in full-scan test technology. We congratulate him on receiving this honor and acknowledge the great contributions he has made to both Synopsys and the industry in advancing test technology. As he continues to be as active as ever, we look forward to many more innovations from Tom in the coming years."

In 1989, Dr. Williams and Dr. E. B. Eichelberger shared the IEEE Computer Society W. Wallace McDowell Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Computer Art, and was cited "for developing the level-sensitive scan (LSSD) technique of testing solid-state logic circuits and for leading, defining, and promoting design for testability concepts." Since then, Dr. Williams has had a significant influence on the IC design community adopting full scan as a de facto standard. As a result of his efforts, the EDA industry has been able to base many of its leading tools upon the foundation of the full-scan design structure, including mainstream logic synthesis, static timing analysis and formal verification solutions.

Dr. Williams was a founding member of the IEEE Test Technology Committee and was named an IEEE Fellow in 1988. He started the first workshop of the IEEE Test Technology Technical Committee -- the DFT Workshop also known as the "Vail Workshop" -- the first test workshop of any kind in 1978. He also co-founded the first Test Workshop in Europe -- the European DFT Workshop. This later grew into the European Test Conference and then into a significant portion of DATE.

Dr. Williams has authored a number of seminal papers in support of the adoption and enhancement of scan techniques, including the first LSSD (with E.B. Eichelberger) paper. He has received a number of best paper awards, including the 1987 Outstanding Paper Award from the IEEE International Test Conference for his work in the area of VLSI Self-Testing, (with W. Daehn, M. Gruetzner, and C. W. Starke), a 1987 Outstanding Paper Award from the CompEuro '87 for his work on Self-Test, a 1989 Outstanding Paper Award (Honorable Mention) from the IEEE International Test Conference for his work on AC Test Quality (with U. Park and M. R. Mercer), and a 1991 Outstanding Paper Award from the ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference for his work in the area of Synthesis and Testing (with B. Underwood and M. R. Mercer). He also has 20 patents and has authored or edited four books on testing and design for testability.

About EDAA

EDAA is a non-profit association. Its purpose is to operate for educational, scientific and technical purposes for the benefit of the international electronics design and design automation community. The Association, in the field of design and design automation of electronic circuits and systems, promotes a series of high quality technical international conferences and workshops across Europe and cooperates actively to maintain harmonious relationships with other national and international technical societies and groups promoting the purpose of the Association.

About Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc. is a world leader in electronic design automation (EDA) software for semiconductor design. The company delivers technology-leading semiconductor design and verification platforms and IC manufacturing software products to the global electronics market, enabling the development and production of complex systems-on-chips (SoCs). Synopsys also provides intellectual property and design services to simplify the design process and accelerate time-to-market for its customers. Synopsys is headquartered in Mountain View, California and has offices in more than 60 locations throughout North America, Europe, Japan and Asia. Visit Synopsys online at http://www.synopsys.com/ .

NOTE: Synopsys is a registered trademark of Synopsys, Inc. Any other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned in this release are the intellectual property of their respective owners.

  Editorial Contacts:

  Sheryl Gulizia
  Synopsys, Inc.
  650-584-8635
  sgulizia@synopsys.com

  Rachel Modena Barasch
  MCA, Inc.
  650-325-7547
  rbarasch@mcapr.com

SOURCE: Synopsys, Inc.

CONTACT: Sheryl Gulizia of Synopsys, Inc., +1-650-584-8635, or
sgulizia@synopsys.com; or Rachel Modena Barasch of MCA, Inc., +1-650-325-7547,
or rbarasch@mcapr.com, for Synopsys, Inc.

Web site: http://www.synopsys.com/