IEEE unveils rollout plan for Blended Learning Program in VLSI

BANGALORE, INDIA: IEEE shared plans for the rollout of the newly announced Blended Learning Program.

The IEEE and RV-VLSI Blended Learning program in Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) is a unique program that aims to increase the availability of skilled engineers in the rapidly growing Electronic Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) sector in India.

IEEE and RV-VLSI will be meeting with colleges, universities, corporates, industry associations, and government agencies to highlight the program and its benefits to students, working professionals, and the industry. We want to gather feedback on the VLSI e-learning content, web-based anytime-learning platform, and on-going individual performance assessment & reporting. The program is designed to attract students to electronic design careers and to help address the growing need for effective corporate on-boarding, establishing a new standard in skills-based training.

David Goldstein, director, New Product Development, IEEE said, "Each module consists of significant amount of project work. The instructor-led labs are divided into two components, first, concept labs that are typically shorter in duration and focus on reinforcing the concepts learnt during the e-Learning modules, and second, projects of varying duration using specific EDA tools. You will need to apply everything you have learnt up to that point to successfully complete these projects."

Venkatesh Prasad, CEO, RV-VLSI, added: "The IEEE and RV-VLSI Blended Learning program is designed to build competency in the field of VLSI through reinforcement of key concepts at every stage and through significant project work using industry standard tools. As a result, we expect the lab component to be between 50 percent and 75 percent of the total time allocated for a module."

Harish Mysore, director, India Operations, IEEE said: "At the start of the program, the trainees will be able to do their project work at the advanced lab facilities of our partner, RV-VLSI, at their campus located in Jayanagar, Bangalore. We are inviting various colleges and other institutions to set up labs in their facilities to conform to industry standards. This will provide recognition to the institutes for their advanced lab facilities and invite positive attention from the government, industry and students. We are also speaking to various corporations to sponsor the program to further promote industry-academia collaboration."

IEEE and RV-VLSI blended learning program is expected to become available during the second quarter of 2014 in the Bangalore region with modules on Logic Design, RTL Design and Verification, and Static Timing Analysis. Other modules will be made available throughout the year. The program will be expanded to other regions in India and then to other countries.