Women in Technology @ DAC
The 62nd DAC invites all attendees to multiple events during the conference to highlight innovations, contributions, and achievements of women in technology and address the growing needs of professional women in the semiconductor field. Come network and inspire future generations to confidently follow and outpace the women leaders in our field.
For more information on women in technology events at DAC or to be part of DAC’s diversity and inclusion committee for 2025, please contact Michelle Clancy Fuller at Michelle.Clancy@Cayennecom.com.
The Marie R. Pistilli Women in Electronic Design Award is a prestigious annual honor that recognizes individuals who have visibly helped to advance women in electronic design. The award is named for the late Marie R. Pistilli, former organizer of DAC, who placed a high value on equality, diversity, and acceptance.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact info@dac.com.
2024 Marie R. Pistilli Award Recipient
Sashi Obilisetty
Executive Director of R&D in the EDA Group at Synopsys
With more than 14 years of experience at Synopsys, Obilisetty has been a driving force in enabling numerous Synopsys technologies in design, verification, manufacturing, and post-silicon domains. Her innovative thinking and broad technical expertise have been instrumental in introducing new technologies to established teams. Notably, she played a key role in spearheading the integration of AI into Synopsys products. Prior to her current role, Obilisetty served as the Chief Architect for Silicon Solutions at Google Cloud, where she was responsible for developing strategic solutions to enable design-on-cloud using Google Cloud technologies. Her entrepreneurial spirit is evident in her founding of two startups in the verification domain before joining Synopsys in 2009. In 1998, Sashi founded DualSoft, a company focused on RTL analysis solutions – an industry first. DualSoft was acquired by TransEDA (a UK based company) in 2000. In 2001, Sashi founded VeriEZ (pronounced “Very Easy”) to address the challenges of rising verification cycles. VeriEZ’s Verilog, OpenVera® and SystemVerilog products were used in production at multiple companies. Obilisetty's contributions extend beyond her professional achievements. She has been deeply involved in inclusion and diversity efforts both within Synopsys and in the broader tech community. In recognition of her efforts, she was honored as the Synopsys recipient of the YWCA Tribute to Women Award (TWIN) in 2018. As an innovator in the field, Obilisetty is co-author of four patents in the AI in EDA domain. These patents cover topics around learning platform essentials for real-time analytics, AI in verification debug, and how to use AI/ML classification techniques to enhance RTL compilation. Her academic background includes a bachelor's degree in electronics and communication engineering from Birla Institute of Technology (Mesra), and a master's in computer engineering from UMASS, Amherst.
Past Recipients of the Marie R. Pistilli Award
- 60th DAC, 2023 - X. Sharon Hu, University of Notre Dame
- 59th DAC, 2022 - Michelle Clancy-Fuller, Cayenne Global
- 58th DAC, 2021 - Renu Mehra, Synopsys
- 57th DAC, 2020 - Alessandra Nardi, PhD, Cadence
- 56th DAC, 2019 - Iris Bahar, Brown University
- 55th DAC, 2018 - Anne Cirkel, Mentor, a Siemens Business
- 54th DAC, 2017 - Janet Olson, Synopsys, Inc.
- 53rd DAC, 2016 - Soha Hassoun, Tufts University
- 52nd DAC, 2015 - Margaret Martonosi, Princeton University
- 51st DAC, 2014 - Diana Marculescu, Carnegie Mellon University
- 50th DAC, 2013 - Nanette Collins, Nanette V. Collins Marketing, and Public Relations
- 49th DAC, 2012 - Dr. Belle W. Y. Wei, San Jose State University
- 48th DAC, 2011 - Limor Fix, Intel Corp.
- 47th DAC, 2010 - Mar Hershenson, Magma Design Automation, Inc.
- 46th DAC, 2009 - Telle Whitney, Anita Borg Institute
- 45th DAC, 2008 - Louise Trevillyan, IBM Research Center
- 44th DAC, 2007 - Jan Willis, Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
- 43rd DAC, 2006 - Ellen Yoffa, IBM
- 42nd DAC, 2005 - Kathryn Kranen, Jasper Design Automation, Inc.
- 41st DAC, 2004 - Mary Jane Irwin, Pennsylvania State University
- 40th DAC, 2003 - Karen Bartleson, Synopsys, Inc.
- 39th DAC, 2002 - Ann Rincon, AMI Semiconductor
- 38th DAC, 2001 - Deidre Hanford, Synopsys, Inc.
- 37th DAC, 2000 - Penny Herscher, Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (previously)
Ann Steffora Mutschler | Semiconductor Engineering
Anne Cirkel | Siemens
Helen Li, Ph.D. | Duke University
Frank Schirrmeister | Arteris
Michelle Clancy Fuller | Cayenne Global
Vivek De | Intel