UCLA Professor Jason Cong Honored with 2024 Phil Kaufman Award, Highest Honor in Electronic System Design

Jason Cong, a distinguished professor of computer science at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, has been named the recipient of the 2024 Phil Kaufman Award for his significant contributions to Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) design automation technology. 

The award, presented annually by the Electronic System Design Alliance — part of the global semiconductor industry association SEMI — and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Council on Electronic Design Automation, is regarded as the highest honor in the field of electronic system design. 

Cong’s research over the past three decades has revolutionized FPGA design automation, influencing both academia and industry. FPGAs are integrated circuits that can be reprogrammed after they have been manufactured. His work spans from circuit to system-level design, enabling advancements in semiconductor technology through innovations in logic, layout and synthesis automation.

“My approach to identifying significant research questions has revolved around recognizing inflection points in semiconductor and integrated circuit technology and the need for new, innovative solutions in electronic design automation,” Cong said. “I believe that innovation in electronic design automation goes hand-in-hand with the advances in semiconductor and integrated circuit technology.”

At UCLA, Cong holds the Volgenau Chair for Engineering Excellence and directs both the VLSI Architecture, Synthesis and Technology Laboratory and the UCLA Center for Domain-Specific Computing. He has mentored numerous graduate students, many of whom have gone on to leadership roles in academia and industry, including founders of successful startups.

“Jason Cong has made sustained, seminal contributions to design automation for FPGA designs, from chips to systems, across logic, layout, compilation and applications, over a remarkable 30-plus-year span,” said Rob Rutenbar, Senior Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Pittsburgh and a previous Phil Kaufman Award recipient. “He is an inspiring and well-accomplished educator, mentor and role model for generations of students who became successful faculty members, co-founders of startups and key contributors to major EDA and semiconductor companies.”

Cong has authored more than 500 publications, received 18 best paper awards and co-founded AutoESL, a company that developed one of the most widely used FPGA synthesis tools and is now known as Vivado HLS after its acquisition by Xilinx Inc. His pioneering research has earned him membership in the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.