Staf Verhaegen
A long time open source proponent and developer - with an interest in Linux, Python, AROS, Retrocomputing, etc. - that also would like to get that spirit in the open source silicon world.
I am an open source proponent from when I was studying at the university of Leuven beginning in the first half of the nineties. Was heavily involved in an open source reimplementation of the AmigaOS under the AROS umbrella. Since I graduated in '95 I am working for imec in Belgium, one of the biggest research institutes in the world on nanotechnology. Since a year or seven I am working there in the IC-link department which is the semiconductor division of imec. We provide services for low-cost prototyping, volume production and system integration of ASICs and electronic systems. Attending the FOSDEM conference of last year I really felt the same vibe in the open source EDA session as was in open source world end of last century. What I did see lacking is the infrastructure for making low-volume low(er)-cost ASICs possible. Given my day job I thought I was right placed to try to make that possible.