Design Automation Conference

The Design Automation Conference, or DAC, is an annual event, a combination of a technical conference and a trade show, both specializing in electronic design automation (EDA).

DAC is the oldest and largest conference in EDA, started in 1964. It grew out of the SHARE ("Society to Help Avoid Redundant Effort") design automation workshop. Its originators Marie Pistilli and Pasquale (Pat) Pistilli were honored by the EDA community. Pat received the highest honor in EDA industry, the Phil Kaufman Award, for this effort and Marie was honored by having an award established in her name, Marie R. Pistilli Women in EDA Achievement Award, known as the Marie R. Pistilli Women in Engineering Achievement Award since 2016.