About the Phil Kaufman Hall of Fame
The first Phil Kaufman Award for Distinguished Contributions to Electronic System Design (ESD) was presented in 1994. After that, numerous outstanding members of our community have been honored.
The award is co-sponsored by Electronic System Design Alliance—ESDA and the IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation—CEDA. IEEE has a policy that does not present awards to a deceased individual. A well-deserving person who made significant contributions but passed away before they were recognized is not eligible for the annual Phil Kaufman Award.
In 2020, the Phil Kaufman Award Nomination Committee created the Phil Kaufman Hall of Fame. This new honor posthumously recognizes individuals who made significant and noteworthy contributions through creativity, entrepreneurism, and innovation to the electronic system design industry.
Selections for the inaugural Phil Kaufman Hall of Fame was determined through a nomination process reviewed by the ESD Alliance and IEEE CEDA Kaufman Award selection committees, and the inaugural honor was announced in June 2021
Download the Nomination Form for the Phil Kaufman Hall of Fame or the annual Phil Kaufman award.
Phil Kaufman Hall of Fame Honorees
Phil Kaufman Award Recipients
are also Hall of Fame Members
About Phil Kaufman
After many years as a design engineer and manager at companies including Intel, Phil became chairman and president of Silicon Compiler Systems, an early provider of high level EDA tools that enabled designers to develop complex chips more efficiently.
With design complexity increasing, Phil became CEO of Quickturn Design Systems, a pioneer in the emulation of complex chips. Quickturn’s products helped designers to speed the verification of complex designs.
Phil died of a heart attack during a business trip in Japan in 1992. The ESD Alliance (previously the EDA Consortium) founded the Phil Kaufman Award to honor his memory and contributions to the electronic design industry.