Armenia Continues to Play a Leading Role in Microelectronics Education

-- Synopsys Hosts 418 Bright, Young Professionals from 14 Countries at the Seventh Annual International Microelectronics Olympiad of Armenia during Synopsys Week

YEREVAN, Armenia, Oct. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq:SNPS), a global leader providing software, IP and services used to accelerate innovation in chips and electronic systems, today announced that the final stage of the Seventh Annual International Microelectronics Olympiad of Armenia took place at the Synopsys Armenia Education Department (SAED), with competitors winning 23 prizes in 10 categories. A full list of the winners is provided below. Held in conjunction with Synopsys Week in Armenia 2012, this year's competition reflected the diversity of participants from 14 countries: Armenia, Belarus, China, Egypt, Germany, India, Jordan, Malaysia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, UAE, Ukraine and the USA. Out of the 418 competitors in the Olympiad, 191 were from Armenian universities and IT companies and 227 were from international universities and organizations.

The Olympiad highlights some of the brightest, most talented engineers under the age of 30. Olympiad topics for 2012 included Digital IC Design and Test, Analog and Mixed-Signal IC Design and Test, Semiconductor Devices and Technology, and Mathematic and Algorithmic Issues of Electronic Design Automation (EDA).

The competition was conducted in two stages. The first stage, held in the participants' countries during September, involved a test to establish a baseline. The second stage involved a challenging contest consisting of advanced engineering tasks requiring complex solutions. Of 418 participants in the first stage, 34 were qualified to progress to the second stage, which was held on October 4 in Yerevan at the SAED. Of these 34 contestants, 14 were from Yerevan, four were from Gyumri, Armenia and 16 were from a variety of other countries.

This year the event was held in cooperation with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Test Technology Technical Council (TTTC). The general organizer and sponsor of the Olympiad is Synopsys Armenia CJSC. VivaCell-MTS is also a general sponsor of the Olympiad. The Olympiad is also sponsored by Arminco CJSC, Enterprise Incubator Foundation, INGO ARMENIA ICJSC, Microsoft Armenia, Partner Co. Ltd., Unicomp CJSC, Union of Information Technology Enterprises, Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia and Viasphere Technopark.  The information sponsors are ARKA Agency, Business Express Weekly, ECOnomika Magazine, Public Radio of Armenia, Yerkir Media TV and 168 Hours Daily.

The winners of the Seventh Annual International Microelectronics Olympiad of Armenia were awarded with prizes at the Synopsys Gala Evening held on October 4 at the Komitas Chamber Music Hall in Yerevan. The winners are:

• First prize – Notebook computer from VivaCell-MTS went to Tianyu Ma (China)
• Second prize – iPad from Synopsys Armenia went to Mahmoud Hamdy Ibrahim Ouda (Saudi Arabia)
• Third prize – Netbook from Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF) went to Vache Galstyan (Armenia)
• Third prize – Netbook from Unicomp CJSC went to Benjamin Alexander La Riviere (USA)
• Best Engineering Solution – prize from Viasphere Technopark went to Vardan Grigoryants (Armenia)
• Best Out-of-the-Box Solution – prize from Microsoft Armenia went to Reza Asadpour (Malaysia)
• Most Creative Solution – prize from Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE) went to Samvel Antanyan (Armenia)
• Best Female Participant – prize from Partner Co. Ltd went to Nelly Khachatryan (Armenia)
• Youngest Participant – prize from Arminco CJSC went to Grigor Hakobyan (Armenia)
• Best Result among Participants from Gyumri – prize from Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia went to Khoren Tigranyan (Armenia)
• Best Result from each Country – prize from Olympiad Organizing Committee and INGO ARMENIA ICJSC went to Vitaly Gavrilyuk (Belarus), Tianyu Ma (China), Arjun Singhal (Germany), Nikhil Sudhir Upadhyay (India), Anas Majdi Dahabra (Jordan), Reza Asadpour (Malaysia), Taylan Daribaev (Russia), Mahmoud Hamdy Ibrahim Ouda (Saudi Arabia), Jelena Zdravkovic (Serbia), Hebatalla Salah Abdulkarim A Alhamadani (UAE), Volodymyr Miz (Ukraine), Benjamin Alexander La Riviere (USA)

Along with the winners of the Seventh Annual International Microelectronics Olympiad of Armenia, the winners of the Eighth Presidential Educational Awards and "Best IT Managers" 2012 Awards were also honored at the Gala evening, followed by a reception and a concert where the "Little Singers of Armenia" performed.

"Now in its seventh year, the International Microelectronics Olympiad continues its impressive momentum. Three years ago, the Olympiad took its first tentative steps toward internationalization, with the participation of students from Russia and Ukraine. This year, the Olympiad attracted contestants from 14 countries. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of our partner VivaCell-MTS, the opportunity to travel to Yerevan to participate in the Olympiad is proving to be a very attractive proposition around the world, and is creating an event in this field that is unprecedented," said Rich Goldman, president of the organizing committee of the Olympiad, CEO of Synopsys Armenia CSJC, and vice president of corporate marketing and strategic alliances at Synopsys. "This year's recognition from IEEE, the world's most respected professional engineering society, signifies the high global regard in which the Olympiad is held. The Olympiad also benefits Armenia by providing an impetus to showcase the country's developing role as a regional center for microelectronics, and it serves as a strong basis for developing beneficial relationships for Armenia around the world."

"The quality of education in Armenia will define our future – it is essential to boosting the country's competitive advantage," said Ralph Yirikian, general manager of VivaCell-MTS, the general sponsor of the Olympiad. "Initiatives such as these need to be strongly encouraged. As Armenia's leading mobile operator and a corporate citizen, VivaCell-MTS recognizes the importance of supporting initiatives that lead young people to great discoveries and encourage creativity."

"The increasing participation and support over the years of the Olympiad of Armenia indicate that it indeed serves its main objectives to stimulate further development of microelectronics in the region and to increase the level of knowledge of the Olympiad participants," said Professor Vazgen Melikyan, president of the program committee of the Olympiad and director of SAED.

"It was my pleasure to participate again in this year's International Microelectronics Olympiad. Visiting Synopsys Armenia and seeing the fruitful collaboration between Synopsys and academia was a great experience," said Mahmoud Ouda, Ph.D. student of the Department of Electrical Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. "I hope to see even more participants from more countries next year."

About Annual International Microelectronics Olympiad of Armenia

The first Armenian Microelectronics Olympiad was held in September of 2006 with 82 participants from Armenia. Since then, the event has grown to include numerous award categories and over 400 participants from 14 countries. Visit the Annual International Microelectronics Olympiad of Armenia online at http://www.microolymp.am.

About IEEE TTTC

IEEE is the world's largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. Sponsored by IEEE's Computer Society, TTTC is a dedicated council to serve the global test technology professional community through a series of annual conferences, standards, publications, educational and professional activities. For more information, please visit http://tab.computer.org/tttc.

About Synopsys, Inc. and Synopsys Armenia CJSC

Synopsys, Inc. accelerates innovation in the global electronics market. As a leader in electronic design automation (EDA) and semiconductor IC, its software, IP and services help engineers address their design, verification, system and manufacturing challenges. Since 1986, engineers around the world have been using Synopsys technology to design and create billions of chips and systems. Synopsys established a presence in Armenia in 2004 as Synopsys Armenia closed joint stock company (CJSC). Synopsys Armenia CJSC provides R&D and product support in EDA, design for manufacturing (DFM) and the development of semiconductor intellectual property (IP). Employing several hundred qualified Armenian engineers, Synopsys is one of largest IT employers in Armenia. To encourage the highest levels of accomplishment for students in IT, the company sponsors awards and competitions such as the Annual Educational Awards of the Republic of Armenia (RA) President, and the Annual International Microelectronics Olympiad of Armenia. Synopsys Armenia is also the initiator of the Global IT Award of the RA President, as well as "Best IT Managers" Award. Synopsys Armenia's investment in the community reaches well beyond IT. In 2010, Synopsys in Armenia was recognized as one of 12 finalists for the U.S. Secretary of State's annual Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE), citing the company's technology and financial leadership as well as its charity work and volunteer activities. Synopsys Armenia CJSC is located in Yerevan. Synopsys, Inc. is headquartered in Mountain View, California. Visit Synopsys, Inc. and Synopsys Armenia online at www.synopsys.com and www.synopsys.am.

Editorial Contact:
Gayane Markosyan
Synopsys Armenia 
(374 10) 492-356
(374 94) 492-204
gayanem@synopsys.com