Latch-Up 2026 invites the free and open source silicon community to Canada!
The FOSSi Foundation is proud to announce Latch-Up, a conference dedicated to free and open source silicon to be held over the weekend of Friday May 1 to Sunday May 3 in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Latch-Up is a weekend of presentations and networking for the open source digital design community, much like its European sister conference ORConf.
Questions? Send an email to latch-up@fossi-foundation.org.
Register
Latch-Up is free to attend. If you are able to, please help running the event by considering a "Pay what you want" ticket with an donation. If you are attending Latch-Up on behalf of their company are encouraged to donate in the form of a professional ticket. Please choose one option in the checkout process -- you do not need a "Free" ticket in addition to a "Pay what you want" ticket.
Venue and getting there
Latch-Up 2026 will be held at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
Pearl Sullivan Engineering Building (formerly known as building Engineering 7 or E7)
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo
Ontario
N2L 3G1
Canada
Room 7303 (7th floor. Just opposite to the elevators)
Car parking
Paid car parking ($10.00 per day) is available on campus for visitors. Use Lot B. You need to pay either using the AMP Park app (Google Play Store, Apple App Store) or the AMP website (instructions, register in advance!). More information on visitor parking is available on the university website.
Let's talk!
Join the #latchup2026:fossi-foundation.org Matrix room to chat with other participants at the conference, share additional information about the talks, about traveling to and from Waterloo, and what else comes to your mind!
Code of conduct
We ask all Latch-Up participants to adhere to the the FOSSi Foundation code of conduct throughout the event.
Supporters
We thank all our sponsors, exhibitors, and all participants who donated by buying a Pay-what-you-want or Professional Ticket.
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Schedule
All times are subject to change.
Friday, May 1st: Conference
Saturday, May 2nd: Conference, lightning talks, and social event
Sunday: Unconference and workshops
On Sunday we will have an unconference and workshops to have more time for focused discussions. Even though the exact schedule and topics to talk about will be created together at the event, you can expect in-depth discussions with key stakeholders in Free and Open Source Silicon Projects, demo sessions, hackathrons, and more.
Even if you don't find anything else to talk about (we highly doubt it!), we already have two exciting workshops planned: a Tiny Tapeout workshop, and a analog design workshop.
Breakfast will be served from 9 to 10am to give you a great start into the day!
Tiny Tapeout workshop (Pat Deegan)
Join us for a Tiny Tapeout workshop on Sunday! Tiny Tapeout workshops are hands-on, beginner-friendly sessions, guiding participants through the world of silicon design. In just four hours, you’ll get a taste of how digital circuits are built and see your ideas come to life on an actual chip.
Seats are limited! Ensure you have registered for Latch-Up and watch your email inbox for registration information shortly before the event.
Draw with Me - Full Custom Analog Layout (Nanik Adnani)
Come draw a layout with me! As a group we will go through the process of drawing a layout beginning to end. As we go we will learn about various design tradeoffs, as well as best practices used in industry to keep your layout organized and maintainable.