Mentor Graphics Corporation today announced it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Education (MOE) to help China boost its integrated circuit (IC) design engineering talent pool and overall industry growth.

Under the MOU, Mentor Graphics will provide market-leading electronic design automation (EDA) products, training, and support to China's nine top universities for use as core academic education for professors and IC design engineering students.

China is increasing IC design and manufacturing development by boosting its IC design engineering talent pool in local universities. The cooperation between Mentor Graphics and the MOE is gaining higher recognition from China's government for cultivating IC design engineering talent.

Mentor Graphics has been working with China's top universities and government research centers since 1989. Currently, there are more than 40 universities in the country using Mentor Graphics tools in daily curricula or in research projects. As part of this MOU, Mentor Graphics will work with the Department of Higher Education of Ministry of Education to develop high quality IC design educational courses and hands-on training for the following universities: Peking University and Tsinghua University, Beijing; Zhejiang University and Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Hubei; Fudan University, Jiaotong University and Southeast University, Jiangsu; Xidian University, Shanzi; and Chengdu Electronic Science & Technology University, Sichuan. Courses and training will include Mentor Graphics(R) FPGA design flow, analog/mixed signal and RF IC design flow, physical verification, design-for-test, and printed circuit board (PCB) tools for system design and high speed. These EDA tools and flows are internationally recognized for their leading technologies.