The IC Brazil Training Center—located in Porto Alegre, home to much of Brazil's high-tech industry—is the first such high-tech training center in the country, and the first of four planned between Cadence and the Brazilian government.

Opening a training center underscores Cadence's commitment to support and facilitate the development of Brazil's semiconductor industry. With the new center in place, Cadence expects to provide commercial IC design training to more than 1,500 local IC design engineers over the next three years to increase Brazil's EDA capabilities and serve a growing IC infrastructure in the country. The company is also developing the curriculum, providing the initial training and training the trainers to make the program self-supporting. Brazil, in turn, is providing scholarships to qualified university graduates to receive the training and prepare themselves for high-technology careers.

"We selected Cadence to develop and implement their training program to provide design engineers that are needed for Brazil's growing semiconductor industry," said Sergio Machado Rezende, Brazil's minister of science and technology. "Cadence design capabilities provide end-to-end solutions for customers, and their training ensures that the graduates will be able to serve customers in Brazil as well as the multinational companies that we expect will expand their operations into Brazil."

"Opening a design center in Brazil is a reflection of the Cadence approach to emerging markets," said Mike Fister, president and CEO, Cadence. "We have been at the forefront of emerging markets in India, China and Russia, and our ability to implement training programs and help build infrastructure has been tested around the world. We see opportunities in Brazil's growing local consumer market and want to support Brazil's drive to develop a robust IC industry in their country."