Well, I'm delighted to be able to tell you that the submissions portal is open for speaking proposals for the forthcoming Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) Silicon Valley, which is to be held as the San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, California, on December 6-8, 2016.

This year's event will boast four main tracks, and we are interested in any proposals that may involve (but are not limited to), the following topics:

• Embedded Hardware Design & Verification: Architecture, Design, Development, Verification, Debugging & Test — Low Power Design — Processors & Programmable Devices — Project Planning and Development — Strategies for Getting the Most from Smaller, Cheaper Parts — Systems Architecture — Trends in Embedded Systems Design & Verification — Device Drivers — Energy Harvesting — Signal Converters — Sensors, Sensor Hubs & Sensor Fusion — Human-Machine Interfaces — Wireless Networking — Development Boards — Development Tool Chains — Rapid Prototyping Techniques — The Role of Open Source Hardware in Prototyping — Security. 
   
• Embedded Software Design & Verification: Architecture, Design, Development, Verification, Debugging & Test — Device Drivers — Embedded Android — Firmware Architecture — Rapid Development using Open Source Tools — Kernels, Operating Systems & Real Time Operating Systems — Languages (e.g., C, C++, Python) — Source Control Management — Writing Reliable Code — Open Source Software — Security. 
   
• Connected Devices and the Internet of Things (IoT): Architecture, Design, Development, Verification, Debugging & Test — Economic Models for the IoT — IoT Platforms and Services — Platform Independent APIs — Intelligent Sensors — Firmware, Middleware & Application Software — Networking and Connectivity — Embedded Speech & Embedded Vision — Security. 
   
• The ESC Engineering Theater: This is the venue where you can captivate an audience of your peers with spectacular feats of engineering derring-do, and you can regale them with tales from the trenches describing how you have successfully rolled up your shirtsleeves to overcome the diabolical challenges inherent in bringing good engineering ideas to life. This is also the place to present your one-of-a-kind electronic inventions and any weird and wacky ideas you've dreamed up, coded, wired, soldered, hammered, and/or glued together.

Our goal is to deliver a unique and highly useful educational experience for embedded systems designers and technical professionals involved in developing electronics products and systems. We encourage proposals from speakers with deep technical and practical expertise in embedded systems hardware, software, and firmware, as well as practitioners who have developed strategies for reducing time, cost, and complexity in the embedded development process.

So don’t delay — I and the other members of the ESC Technical Program Committee are eagerly awaiting your submissions for ESC Silicon Valley, and we very much look forward to seeing you there in December.