Virtually every electronic microchip developed in the world today is the product of SPICE computer simulation software, or one of the modeling program’s derivatives. Based on Department of Defense-funded research conducted at Berkeley during the 1960s, the original SPICE program was developed in 1972 under the direction of Donald Pederson. Later, A. Richard Newton, professor of engineering, collaborated on crafting the software for automated electronic design in the semiconductor and integrated circuit industries. In 1983, Newton co-founded electronic design automation firm SDA Systems, which later merged with competitor ECAD to form Cadence Design Systems. Valued at $30 million at the time of the merger, Cadence has a market value of $2.68 billion, with annual revenues of $935 million and assets of $1.4 billion.