Abstract: Analog/mixed-signal integrated circuits are key in applications where electronics interface with the physical world. The design of analog circuits in industry, however, is time consuming and prone to errors, often requiring multiple redesign cycles. The rebirth of AI and machine learning, and the recent rise of generative AI methods have created a whole new spectrum of techniques to automate this process. This lecture will describe how advanced machine learning (ML) techniques can be used to automatically synthesize and lay out analog integrated circuits. What is hype and what will be feasible? What are the proper formulations? Will we still need analog designers in the future and how will they operate?

Bio: Georges G.E. Gielen received the MSc and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium, in 1986 and 1990, respectively. Currently, he is Full Professor in the MICAS research division at the Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT) at KU Leuven. From August 2013 until July 2017 he served as Vice-Rector for the Group of Sciences, Engineering and Technology. In 2018 he was visiting professor at UC Berkeley and Stanford University. From 2020 to 2024 he served as Chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT) at KU Leuven.

His research interests are in the design of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits, and especially in analog and mixed-signal CAD tools and design automation, including modeling, simulation, optimization and synthesis as well as testing. He is a frequently invited speaker/lecturer and coordinator/partner of several (industrial) research projects in this area, including an ERC Advanced Grant. He has (co-)authored 10 books and more than 700 publications in edited books, international journals and conference proceedings. He is a 1997 Laureate of the Belgian Royal Academy of Sciences, Literature and Arts in the discipline of Engineering. He is Fellow of the IEEE since 2002, and received the IEEE CAS Mac Van Valkenburg award in 2015 and the IEEE CAS Charles Desoer award in 2020, as well as the EDAA Achievement Award in 2021. He is an elected member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium in the class of Technical Sciences, and of the Academia Europaea.