Research, teaching and practice: OCDCpro at the Chipdesign Germany Forum 2026

On 6th and 7th of May, the German chip design community gathered in Dresden for the Chipdesign Germany Forum. Alongside technical deep dives, interesting specialist presentations and discussions on the future of German and European microelectronics, there was an opportunity for DE:SIGN projects to provide insights into current research projects. The OCDCpro team presented the current status of the LAYR Open Chip Challenge and sharing initial experiences from the ongoing competition. 

A platform for new ideas in chip design the forum offered a wide range of topics from the fields of microelectronics and chip design. Alongside insights into new innovations in microelectronics in Europe and technical fundamentals such as SPICE, the DE:SIGN projects were given a platform to present their current progress. On behalf of OCDCpro, Johanna T. Wallenborn (Gesellschaft für Informatik) and Prof. Stefan Wallentowitz (Hochschule München) presented how the LAYR Open Chip Challenge aims to inspire students in microelectronics: through a competitive format, an open toolchain, practical development and real tape-outs for all teams, rather than purely theoretical teaching.

Discussions on the future of chip design education 

In addition to the lecture programme, the accompanying poster session provided an opportunity for discussions with researchers, lecturers and industry representatives on open hardware development, new teaching formats and the question of how to introduce young people to chip design at an early stage.

The response clearly showed that practical formats, a challenge-based approach and real-world development experience are met with great interest. This is precisely where the LAYR Open Chip Challenge comes in. The team is delighted to be taking this idea forward together with new partners at universities, lecturers and students, and is eagerly awaiting the results of the first pilot run of the challenge. Stay tuned!