Novel research on improving the simulation performance of hardware models created in a language called SystemC, often used to shorten manufacturing design cycles to improve the time it takes to bring a product to the marketplace, has garnered a team led by Sandeep Shukla, Virginia Tech associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and three of his students, a best paper award at the 15th Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference (ASP-DAC) held this month in Taiwan.