Oct 1, 2026

IEEE LA & Caribbean Semi Summit

IEEE Latin America & the Caribbean
Semiconductor Summit

LACSS 2026 will bring together leaders from industry, government, academia, research institutions and the investment community to explore Latin America and the Caribbean’s role in the rapidly evolving global semiconductor ecosystem.

The two-day (Oct. 1-2) program will examine regional capabilities and opportunities across semiconductor design, talent development, advanced manufacturing, packaging and testing, supply chains, investment, public policy, research, critical technologies and international cooperation. The IEEE EDS/CASS MQ Semiconductors in Latin America will follow on the third day (Oct.3)

DAY 1 — Academia and Industry: Building Talent, Research and Innovation
Thursday, October 1st, 2026

Opening

08:30–09:00

Opening Ceremony

Ivan Armuelles, Chair IEEE LACSS 2026

Juan Pimiento, SENACYT, Panama

09:00–09:30

Overview of the Semiconductor Industry Today and Opportunities for Latin America through the IEEE Open Silicon Initiative
Fernando Guarin, IEEE Division I, Director - GlobalFoundries (Retired) / IBM (Retired), USA

Building Semiconductor Talent: National Experiences from Latin America

Moderator: Fernando Guarín, IEEE

09:30–09:50

Building Panama's National Semiconductor Talent Pipeline
Zoila De Castillo, C-TASC, Panama

09:50–10:10

Brazil´s Semiconductor Industry and Design House Ecosystem
Jacobus Swart, University of Campinas (UNICAMP) / INCT NAMITEC, Brazil

10:10–10:30

The Kutsari initiative and strategy for the future (virtual)
Edmundo Gutierrez, Kutsari (National Center for Semiconductor Design in Mexico), Mexico

10:30–11:00

Networking Coffee Break

Electronic Design Automation

Moderator: Ricardo Reis, UFRGS, Brazil

11:00–12:30

Panel: EDA Innovation and Latin America’s Role in the Global Semiconductor Ecosystem

Antonio de la Serna, Siemens EDA

Victor Grimblatt, Synopsys

Marcelo Da Silva, Cadence

12:30–14:00

Lunch

Talent Development and Industrial Capabilities

Moderator: Carlos Silva, PUCP, Peru

14:00–14:30

Talent: the keyword for the development of semiconductors

Ricardo Reis, Institute of Informatics, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil

14:30–15:45

Panel: Preparing Semiconductor Talent–Industry and University Experiences

Rodrigo Jaramillo, Circuify Semiconductors, Mexico

Alfredo Arnaud, Universidad Católica del Uruguay, Uruguay

Victor Grimblatt, Synopsys, Chile

Amílcar Josué Véliz Solares, Universidad Galileo, Guatemala

Javier Marte Michelen, Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, Dominican Republic

15:45–16:15

Networking Coffee Break

16:15–16:45

Assembly, Testing and Packaging: Opportunities for Latin America

Joel Molina, INAOE, Mexico

Day 1 Wrap-up

16:45–17:00

Day 1 Wrap-Up

Ivan Armuelles, Chair IEEE LACSS 2026

18:00–20:00

Welcome Reception (off-site)

La Casa - Ciudad del Saber


DAY 2 — Government and Industry: Policy, Investment and Regional Strategy
Friday, October 2nd, 2026

08:30–08:45

Day 2 Kick-off

Start of Day 2: summary of the previous day and agenda of the day

Global Policy, Cooperation and Investment

Moderator: Erik Heilman, IEEE-USA

08:45–09:30

Global Policy Perspectives for Semiconductor Development

Filipe Silva, Semiconductors Team Lead, OECD (virtual)

09:30–10:00

Pax Silica and the Global Semiconductor Ecosystem: Implications for Latin America and the Caribbean (virtual)

Akhil Ramesh, PAC Forum

10:00–10:30

Panama’s Semiconductor Strategy (TBC)

Victor Sanchez, C-TASC AIP, Panama

10:30–11:00

Networking Coffee Break

The Semiconductor Policy Playbook: Regulation, IP and Regional Development

Moderator: TBC

11:00–12:20

Panel: Policies and Partnerships for Latin American Semiconductor Ecosystems

Adão Villaverde, Brazil

Mayté Milián, Guatemala

Nestor García Romero, Mexico

Lorena Garcia, Colombia

12:20–12:30

IEEE Division I–Synopsys MoU Signing Ceremony: Semiconductor Workforce Development
Fernando Guarín, IEEE Division I

Victor Grimblatt, Synopsys

12:30–14:00

Lunch

Semiconductor Design, Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship

Moderator: Lorena Garcia, Alianza E, Colombia

14:00–15:30

Panel: Building Semiconductor and Hardware Businesses in Latin America

Rodrigo Jaramillo, Circuify Semiconductors, Mexico

Israel Mejia, QSM, Mexico (virtual)

Gabriel Ortiz, Pixart, Argentina

Alfonso Chacon, Rydev, Costa Rica

Javier Ardila, OnSilicon, Colombia (virtual)

15:30–16:00

Networking Coffee Break

Expanding Access to Semiconductor Design, Prototyping and Manufacturing

Moderator: Joel Molina, INAOE, Mexico

16:00–17:00

Panel: Expanding Access to Semiconductor Design, Prototyping and Manufacturing

Pat Deegan, Tiny Tapeout

Mitchell Hsing, InchFab

Alfonso Torres, INAOE (virtual)

FET 100

Moderator: Arokia Nathan, IEEE EDS, USA

17:00–17:45

FET100

Speakers: Fernando Guarin, Jacobus Swart.

17:45–18:00

Closing - LACSS 2027 announcement

Ivan Armuelles

Ricardo Reis

18:00

End of LACSS


DAY 3 — 2026 IEEE EDS/CASS MQ Semiconductors in Latin America
Saturday, October 3rd, 2026
Universidad De Panama Auditorio (Piso 3), Facultad De Informática, Electrónica Y Comunicación

IEEE EDS/CASS MQ Session: 
Exploring Innovation, Research, and Opportunities for a Semiconductor Future
in the Caribbean
8:00–8:15 Opening Ceremony — Registration and Welcome Remarks
8:15–8:45 Low Power Design for Sustainable Manufacturing in Agribusiness
Victor Grimblatt
8:45–9:15 Embedded Timing: A New Scaling Layer for Compute at System Scale
Rodrigo Calderon
9:15–9:45 Reliability Topics for Advanced Semiconductors
Fernando Guarin
9:45–10:15 Physical Design Automation: From Past to Future
Ricardo Reis
10:15–10:45 Networking Coffee Break
10:45–11:15 Brazil’s Semiconductor Industry and Design House Ecosystem
Jacobus Swart
11:15–11:45 Oxide Electronics
Arokia Nathan
11:45–12:15  Dielectrics Materials from Field Effect Transistors to In-Memory Computing
Durga Misra
12:15–13:30  Lunch



No comments: