HDL for Digital System Design — Barcelona Abroad¶
UCF Study Abroad · Barcelona, Spain · Summer 2026
The HDL curriculum, trimmed and adapted for a study-abroad format: 11 focused teaching sessions, dedicated catch-up/build days, 3 academic visits, a guest RISC-V lecture, and the CRAFT pedagogical overlay woven into every session. Advanced topics (SystemVerilog and more) live in a guided self-study track.
Weekly Arc¶
Academic Visits & Enrichment¶
RISC-V vector processor startup — see how RTL meets commercial silicon design in a Barcelona fab-adjacent company.
Large-scale hardware verification and test infrastructure at a major semiconductor site.
Real-time embedded systems managing a city's transit network — digital design in critical infrastructure.
David Castells Rufas on open-source ISA design — connecting course HDL skills to the RISC-V ecosystem.
Course Grading¶
| Component | Weight | What Counts |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance & Activities | 20% | Daily attendance + in-class participation/activities |
| Lab Exercises | 60% | Completed daily lab upload (one per teaching session, ~9 labs) |
| Final Project | 10% | Self-selected Verilog project, demo + source + testbench + PPA report |
| Tour & Guest Lecture Reflections | 5% | Short reflections after each industry visit + RISC-V guest lecture |
| Cultural Activity Reflections | 5% | Short reflections on Barcelona cultural activities (Sagrada Familia, Montserrat, Flamenco, Park Güell, cooking, etc.) |
| Total | 100% |
See the Barcelona Project Spec for project-specific deliverables and rubric.
What Makes the Abroad Edition Different¶
Contextualize → Reframe → Assemble → Fortify → Transfer. Each 2.5-hour session follows this research-backed cycle.
Academic visits replace textbook motivation — you see HDL concepts in production before you build them in lab.
11 teaching sessions cover the core HDL arc. Two merges (D1+D2, D5+D6) and a trimmed scope keep the pace humane; SystemVerilog and advanced topics live in a guided self-study track.
No license servers, no vendor lock-in — the same iCE40 toolchain travels with you.