In Memoriam: Chris Spear

Our friend and colleague Chris Spear passed away suddenly. He was a long-time veteran of our industry and was known and respected by many.

Chris joined Mentor/Siemens EDA as a principal customer training engineer in 2016 drawing on his extensive background as an applications engineer working closely with verification engineers in his previous roles. His dedication and passion for sharing his knowledge led to his pivotal role in shaping Siemens EDA’s training strategies in the design verification domain.

He literally wrote the book on “SystemVerilog for Verification” and during his tenure, Chris’s live training classes on SystemVerilog and UVM proved invaluable to hundreds of engineers, offering an unmatched educational experience to both new and seasoned engineering professionals. This is a quote from a verification engineer who attended Chris’s last Advanced UVM class recently: “I really enjoyed the in-class instruction of Chris Spear; his willingness to impart, engage and understand makes him an invaluable resource and highly effective instructor.”

Chris’s love for his family knew no bounds. He was an avid cyclist and enjoyed spending time in nature during his cycling expeditions and explorations at home and in various countries around the globe. Many of you may be familiar with and have supported Chris’s decades-long participation in the Pan-Mass Challenge, an annual bike-a-thon for life-saving cancer research and treatment at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, for which Chris fundraised and rode every summer.

In Siemens EDA and the design verification communities, we mourn the loss of a dear friend and colleague. The world has lost an exceptional individual. Our deepest condolences go to his family, friends, and colleagues.