Si2 Announces New VP of Development.

AUSTIN, Texas -- The Silicon Integration Initiative (Si2) officially announced today that Nick English has joined Si2 as the VP of Development reporting to Sumit DasGupta, Senior VP of Engineering. In this position, Mr. English will be responsible for supporting the detailed activities of the Technical Steering Group in the recently-initiated Open Modeling Coalition as well as the Change Team in the OpenAccess Coalition and in driving synergy between the two coalitions. This appointment is part of Si2's process of scaling to better support our 30%+ annual membership growth rate and our members' growing interests in critical collaborative standardization and technology development in a timely and effective manner.

As an experienced senior manager, Mr. English is known for managing both business and technical processes that affect electronic design. He has over 25 years of high-technology industry experience in both engineering and management roles. He has previously served as the chair and the key driver of the OpenKit Initiative within Accellera to create standards for the semiconductor industry's process design kits. Over the last twenty years Mr. English has held senior management positions in semiconductor, EDA, and software companies. He holds BSEE and MSEE degrees from the University of South Florida.

This experience will be directed at two major efforts at Si2. The Open Modeling Coalition is a substantial and multi-faceted industry effort to solve critical design library characterization and modeling needs. Si2 has been chosen to serve as the integrator for multiple technology contributions that aim to accelerate deployment. As the OpenAccess Coalition's growth and adoption becomes widespread, Si2 is providing additional support to ensure its future success. Sumit DasGupta notes, "The increased technical and management demands of both Coalitions require new levels of support. Nick's long experience in business, engineering, management and standards will be most welcome."

As Steve Schulz, president and CEO of Si2 remarked, "We look at this appointment as yet another indicator of Si2's growth and impact on the future of electronic design and the EDA industry. We expect Nick's position to expand our level of service to our members, our ongoing coalition projects, and thus to the overall industry."

For more information on Si2, visit: www.si2.org

About Si2

Si2 is an organization of industry-leading semiconductor, systems, EDA and manufacturing companies focused on improving the way integrated circuits are designed and manufactured in order to speed time-to-market, reduce costs, and meet the challenges of sub-micron design. Si2 is uniquely positioned to enable collaboration through a strong implementation focus driven by its member companies. Si2 focuses on developing practical technology solutions to industry challenges. Si2 represents over 85 companies involved in all parts of the silicon supply chain throughout the world.