Michael Kaskowitz of Mentor Graphics elected as new VSIA President

Kaskowitz’s Revitalization Program will highlight SoC business issues and promote adoption of VSIA standards

Los Gatos, Calif. – March 17, 2003 – The VSI Alliance, an industry association chartered with developing open standards for System-on-Chip (SoC) development and reuse, today announced the election of Michael Kaskowitz, general manager, Intellectual Property Division of Mentor Graphics Corporation (NASDAQ: MENT) as its new president. Timothy O’Donnell is leaving the post as VSIA president, after holding the position since June 2001.

At the VSIA Board Meeting on February 27, 2003, Kaskowitz, the VSIA Board, and VSIA Staff began outlining the VSIA “Revitalization” Plan with a goal of defining new programs that will focus on the business issues of reuse and SoC development and bring more resources to its executive members. VSIA will form a taskforce from its member base to help define specific programs. Some examples of programs that have been discussed include: User groups to support more effective adoption of popular standards; executive and management-level seminars and panels providing a forum for exploring reuse issues; research projects and technical surveys providing insights from VSIA end-user members; technical and business audio presentations on the website; and other web and in-person events that allow VSIA to share its industry insights, research and results at the executive, management, and technical level.

 “As GM of Mentor Graphics IP division, Kaskowitz has demonstrated an in-depth understanding of the technical and business issues critical to SoC success. His experience dovetails perfectly with our ongoing efforts to solve the tough problems that surround SoC development and the widening design gap,” said Tim O’Donnell, Kaskowitz’s predecessor. “VSIA is fortunate to have a leader with such enthusiasm, strategic vision and relevant industry experience.”

“For the past few years, VSIA has focused exclusively on the Development Working Groups (DWGs) and we’ve done an excellent job producing more than 20 standards, specs, white papers and taxonomies in record time,” said Kaskowitz. “Unfortunately, we have not done a good job of solving the problems of adoption and of identifying and bringing to light the business issues of SoC and reuse. Our membership  represents the most influential global reuse and SoC companies  which have tremendous insights into the business issues companies struggle with  for design reuse programs—we want to tap those resources and bring more value to our members. During 2003-2004, my goals include working with industry leaders to identify and provide solutions to the critical SoC and reuse business challenges.”

About VSIA
The VSI Alliance (VSIA) is an open, international organization that includes representatives from all segments of the SoC industry: System houses, Semiconductor vendors, Electronic Design Automation (EDA) companies, and Intellectual Property (IP) providers. VSIA’s vision is to dramatically improve the productivity of SoC development by specifying open standards and specifications that facilitate the integration of software and hardware Virtual Components from multiple sources. Many companies have adopted the use of VSIA specifications, standards and documents. VSIA has wide industry participation with more than 120 member companies from around the world. Membership is open to any company with an interest in the development and promotion of open standards used in the design of System-on-Chip. For more information, visit the VSIA web site at www.vsi.org, or e-mail to info@vsi.org.

About Mentor Graphics
Mentor Graphics Corporation (Nasdaq: MENT) is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronics and semiconductor companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues over the last 12 months of about $600 million and employs approximately 3,500 people worldwide. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777; Silicon Valley headquarters are located at 1001 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, California 95131-2314. World Wide Web site: www.mentor.com.

Adoption of VSIA Specifications and Standards
Adoption and use of VSIA's documents, specifications, and standards is growing at many System-on-Chip companies. Some of the companies that have adopted VSIA specifications and standards include Alcatel; ARM; Cadence Design Systems, Inc.; Fujitsu Limited; Hewlett-Packard Company; Infineon Technologies Corp.; Intel Corp; LogicVision, Inc.; LSI Logic Corp; Mentor Graphics Corp.; Motorola SPS; Nokia Mobile Phones; Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.; Philips Semiconductor; sci-worx.; STMicroelectronics Ltd.; Synopsys, Inc.; and Virtual Component Exchange.

VSI Alliance is a trademark of the Virtual Socket Interface Alliance, Inc. Mentor Graphics is a registered trademark of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.