The objective of this research is on integrating verification topics to the curricula, for both undergraduate- and graduate-level curricula. At the undergraduate level, verification concepts and strategies will be emphasized where students will acquire the necessary skills to be an effective designer and verification engineer. At the graduate level, the curriculum will emphasize on the theory and implementation that will supply increasingly capable algorithms and methodologies for verifying designs. In both levels, design for verifiability, hierarchical verification (formal and semi-formal), and coverage-based analysis will be stressed. Course modules and courseware will be developed and made available via the Internet. The specific tasks for this proposal include the following: (1) re-design the undergraduate design projects such that they become verification-aware and verification-centric, starting from the initial phases of the design; (2) embed verification fundamentals to design courses content and syllabi; (3) introduce an entry-level foundations graduate course that covers mathematical theories and formulations behind today's technology; (4) continue cutting-edge verification research to advance the knowledge base; (5) acquire open-source tools and other commercial verification engines through University programs to integrate into the curricula; (6) integrate course modules (lectures and projects) and provide them on the Internet. The impact of this research project not only includes students with a deeper understanding of the role of verification-centric design style, our research and courseware will also reduce the need for other academic and industrial educators to develop similar material across the many courses. Finally, with publications via conferences and journals, the knowledge acquired will also be readily available to the research community.
