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James E. Solomon

Jim is recognized worldwide as a pioneer in the semiconductor and Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry. On the business side, he is most notable as founder of Cadence Design Systems (previously SDA), the leader in EDA. Solomon is a Fellow of the IEEE, holds 23 patents in IC design, and is the author of over 50 technical papers. His best known work on design theory for the monolithic op amp is still taught in universities. He was on the technical program committee for the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) for 10 years, and serves as a Director for several companies. In 1997 he was the recipient of the EDAC Phil Kaufman Award for his contributions to design automation.

In 1995, he co-founded Xulu Entertainment where, until he served as President and CEO, Xulu was an Internet and location-based entertainment company, developing both advanced technology, and content for highly immersive and realistic entertainment experiences. Xulu combined cutting-edge multimedia technology including ultra fast graphics, real-time physics simulation, dynamics modeling of vehicles and characters, 3D sound & visuals, motion and sense of touch with content developed by Academy Award winning artists to produce a new generation of entertainment for adults and families.

In 1994, Solomon co-founded and became Chairman of Smart Machines, Inc., which designs and manufacturers high performance direct-drive robotics used to manufacture semiconductor wafers. Smart Machines was acquired by Brooks Automation in 1999, and the Smart robots are now widely used in modern wafer fab facilities.

In 1983, he founded Solomon Design Automation (SDA Systems), later renamed Cadence Design Systems. Over 12 years he held various roles including President and CEO, founder & General Manager of the Analog & Mixed Signal unit, General Manager of the IC unit, and Chief Technical Officer for the company. Today Cadence is the largest electronic design automation company in the world with annual revenues over $1 billion.

From 1970 until 1983, he was Director of IC Design for Analog and Mixed Signal chips at National Semiconductor. Solomon started and developed into mature businesses: Bi-FET op amps, data acquisition chips, sampled data filters, telecommunication IC's including the industry's first IC digital Codec (digital telephone), and digital signal processing with a focus on speech recognition and synthesis. During Solomon's tenure, National was the world leader in linear and mixed signal IC products.

Starting in 1960, he spent the first three years of his career designing radar receivers and missile control systems for Motorola Systems Research Labs in Riverside, Ca. Then, over the next seven years, he started and ran Linear IC Design at Motorola Semiconductor in Tempe, Arizona. He and his team developed a broad line of commercial ICs including op amps, voltage regulators, RF, IF and audio amplifiers, and consumer chips for Television and FM radio.

Solomon was born in 1936 in Boise, Idaho. He holds BSEE and MSEE degrees from the University of California, Berkeley CA.