WIP: Optimization algorithms: A key component of EDA education

Nowadays, electronic design automation (EDA) is a regular component of computer engineering (CE) curricula. Several EDA problems can be modeled as constrained optimizations, an area where typical CE students have an insufficient background. This paper advocates the teaching of optimization algorithms as a preliminary phase for teaching graduate-level courses on EDA topics. The emphasis should be on practice, rather than theory: this can be achieved by the simultaneous development of an optimization lab using Mathematica - a computational software based on symbolic mathematics.