From Ideas to Chips: IQonIC Works backs Tiny Tapeout Workshop debut in Australia

Introduction

ASTC/IQonIC Works hosted Australia’s first open-access Tiny Tapeout WOrkshop on March 1. 

Key highlights

• Australia’s First Tiny Tapeout Workship
• Community and Educational Value: Encouraging knowledge sharing, innovation
• IQonIC Works: Support Australia semiconductor ecosystem, expertise in RISC-V CPUs, IPs, and embedded chip design

Original press release

During the FOSSi Foundation‘s recent Down Underflow 2026 event, ASTC/IQonIC Works hosted Australia’s first open-access Tiny Tapeout Workshop on March 1. 

ASTC/IQonIC Works is a company specilising in RISC-V CPUs, RISC-V application-specific IP, and embedded chip hardware and software development, dedicated to Australia sovereign design innovation, while nurturing the local semiconductor/IC design ecosystem.

The workshop, led by IQonIC’s own Anton Maurovic, was open to anyone from any technical background and offered participants a rare opportunity to bring their ideas to life as real silicon chips, experiencing the full journey from concept and code to finished silicon layout. The Tiny Tapeout process is simple and guided, enabling even beginners or students to design, simulate, test, and submit a manufacturable chip in about 4 hours. It provides a cross-section and hands-on appreciation for both the theoretical and practical elements that go into all aspects of how a chip is made. 

31 participants worked together to create 21 distinct designs and many of these – thanks to IQonIC’s sponsorship – are on their way to being fabricated on a real community – built AISC. Some projects were made by individuals who had never created a digital design before. Other were made by professionals: from FPGA backgrounds; and even VLSI designers who hadn’t previously had their own personal designs fabricated.

Anton emphasises that initiatives like Tiny Tapeout break down barriers at both local and global scales to accelerate education and real experience in Australia’s growing semiconductor industry, and ASTC/IQonIC Works is proud to be a leader and supporter in this domain. 

If you are interested in RISC-V IC products or customised designs, visit our website iqonicworks.com or contact our expert sales team at sales@astc-design.com, and let us help you realise your projects with the power, economy, and defensibility of tailored silicon backed by a team with over 20 years of custom IC design, fabrication, and deployment experience.