RTL to tapeout.Silicon design through intelligent automation.

A US based electronic design automation (EDA) and design services company committed to reducing time to market and cost of back end (RTL-to-GDS) SoC and ASIC design.

THE TEAM

The people behind the silicon

Automation-backed execution that ships better silicon with less overhead.

Justin Kernen

CEO

20-year veteran of backend SoC design. Has taped out dozens of chips at three of the world's largest semiconductor companies. Specializes in RTL-to-GDS flow automation and physical design methodology across nodes from 90nm to 3nm.

PHYSICAL DESIGN FLOW AUTOMATION RTL2GDS

Matt Mikhailov

CTO

Physical Design and PD CAD Engineer with a background in high-performance computing.

Yuchen Jing

Software Engineer

Experienced Rust developer with a background in high-performance computing, full stack development, DevOps, and security.

Tynan McAuley

SoC RTL Lead

Architect of Domain-Specific Accelerators, with a decade of chip design experience. Expert in RTL design and proficient software developer.

Utkarsh Salvi

DV Engineer

DV Engineer with enthusiasm for automation. Graduated from USC in May 2025.

BLOG

From the blog

Perspectives on EDA flows, backend methodology, automation, and how modern silicon programs get built and delivered.

Centralized vs Localized Flows

9 Aug, 2024

Centralized vs Localized Flows

IP Terminology (definitions for VLSI)

31 Jul, 2024

IP Terminology (definitions for VLSI)

CAREERS

We're hiring

Senior engineers who want real ownership — on real programs, shipping real silicon.

RISC-V CPU Architect/RTL Lead

Austin, TX · Remote · Full time

$225,000–$300,000 / year

Design Verification Lead

Austin, TX · Remote · Full time

$225,000–$300,000 / year

You'll work on customer execution and internal automation side by side, helping shape how modern VLSI programs get delivered faster and with less waste.

View all open roles → Why JDWK →

Let’s talk.

Whether you need support from RTL to tapeout, want to evaluate our automation approach, or are trying to deliver silicon more efficiently than a traditional services model allows, we’d love to talk.

Get in touch →