Third-year student becomes first Vietnamese to win Int’l Microelectronic Olympiad prize

Hieu has become the first Vietnamese to ever win a prize at an international microelectronics competition.

Last year, he took a national competition to earn the only berth to represent Vietnam in the global contest, which was held virtually last December as a result of COVID-19. The finale required candidates to answer 18 questions in three hours.

Doan Van Hieu, a third-year student from the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, wins the third place at the International Microelectronics Olympiad of Armenia (AMO). (Photo courtesy of Doan Van Hieu)

He said the hardest were questions related to integrated circuit design, which took him a lot of time to find answer as he has never learnt about this subject anywhere before.

“It is an important milestone in my university years,” Hieu said, “with this result, I feel more confident to continue pursuing and developing myself in the field of microelectronics; and to find a good job after graduation.”

Organised by Synopsys, an American electronic design automation company, the AMO is held annually for computer engineers and students under 30.

This year’s competition attracted 370 contestants from 10 countries, including Armenia, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Peru, Russia, UAE and Ukraine.

A Serbian student won the first prize while the second prize went to Armenia. Hieu shared the third prize with two others from Armenia and Brazil.