Innovative Signal Integrity and Backplane Solutions

Suzanne Deffree, VP, group portfolio leader, Informa, presents Bert Simonovich with the 2026 DesignCon Engineer of the Year award. Photo Credit: DAPHNE ALLEN/DESIGN NEWS


DesignCon’s “Engineer of the Year” Award is given out each year during the DesignCon event. The award seeks to recognize the best of the best in engineering and new product advancements at the chip, board, or system level, with a special emphasis on signal integrity and power integrity.

The winner was announced at DesignCon 2026, at the Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, CA, and provided with a $1,000 grant or scholarship to present to the educational institution of his or her choice.

The other finalists are listed below.

Idan Ben Ezra, Senior Staff Hardware & Signal/Power Integrity Engineer, Broadcom,
Scott McMorrow, Strategic Technologist, Samtec, Yuriy Shlepnev, President & Founder, Simberian

Read about Bert's career in this Design News interview: DesignCon Engineer of the Year Sows Expertise From Telco, Backplane Days.