The thrust of mainland China, once called "the factory of the world," into the electronics design realm has been nothing short of phenomenal. One event that mirrors the territory's remarkable journey into design alleys is the International IC-China Conference and Exhibition (IIC-China).

In many ways, the show symbolizes mainland China's relentless pursuit of growth, which flourished even in the shadows of the worst downturn of the semiconductor business.

A decade ago, when the IIC-China show began, the mainland's chip industry was in its infancy with minimal amount of electronic design activities. Over the years, the tech show grew in capacity and scope, akin to silicon business in the mainland. In 2004, for instance, 22,348 design engineers and technical managers attended the event. This year, on its 10th anniversary, IIC-China will showcase 600 booths—a record 51 percent increase from 2004.

IIC-China is organized by eMedia Asia Ltd, a joint venture between Global Sources and CMP, which also publishes EE Times—Asia and EE Times—China.

The show will kick-off on April 4 in Shenzhen and, via Beijing, it will conclude in Shanghai on April 14—covering China's three major electronic powerhouse cities. It will also co-host Embedded Systems Conference-China (ESC-China) and EDA & Test-China (EDAT-China) events.

Moreover, the IIC-China event in Shanghai will be co-located with Global Sources' leading export-focused tradeshow, China Sourcing Fair: Electronics & Components. The combo of shows, literally next door to each other and representing two different sides of the electronic supply chain, aims to promote the novel theme of facilitating design-to-export cycle.

Apart from opportunities for networking, peer-to-peer technical collaboration and feedback on product development cycles, IIC-China will highlight the evolving nature of work pressures on Chinese design engineers in keeping up with the relentless pace of technology, chip- and system-level design complexities, and fiercely competitive environment.

Engineers will see a maze of design solutions lined up by a wide range of engineering outfits—from heavyweights like Texas Instruments, Renesas and Philips to a cadre of design houses from Korea and Taiwan. The show hallways will resonate with crucial issues like how the newly-built fab capacity and design wannabes will complement each other, and what the current state of the affairs is when it comes to protecting intellectual property (IP).

The exhibit floors of IIC-China will provide a good peek into the present status of design engineering infrastructure and if there are any developments in soft infrastructure such as IC design houses. They could also unravel the mystic river of mainland's sprouting design centers and how far they have gone beyond mere design cost reduction.

Tech shows like IIC-China have an important place in a market that is hungry for whatever design tips and tricks it can grasp to ease its rapidly evolving design learning curve. China is the largest semiconductor market, and the recent influx of design migration to the territory has further raised the bar for events like IIC-China, in terms of both opportunity and challenge.

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