****************************************************************** <!channel> hello everyone -  as you may have already seen, MPW-3 is now open for project submissions ( https://efabless.com/open_shuttle_program/3 ).  The deadline for project submissions for MPW-3 is October 29, 2021. Minor updates have been made to caravel, caravel_user_project and caravel_user_project_analog but no functional changes have been made.  The precheck has been renamed to mpw_precheck (https://github.com/efabless/mpw_precheck).  Several checks have been update and/or added to address errors missed in MPW-TWO.  Most notably, the DRC check using klayout has been significantly improved to cover all DRC errors that are manufacturing requirements for the foundry.  The check takes additional time to run depending on the complexity of your project.  The updated precheck job is available on the Efabless platform now. A new step will be added to the project submission process which includes submitting your project through the final tapeout job (gds out) on the Efabless platform.  This tapeout job will integrate your final user_project_wrapper with the golden copy of caravel for the shuttle.  It will also generate fill and integrate the seal ring for the final layout.  Finally, it will check the metal density of the final layout to ensure it meets the requirements for the shuttle.  All results from the tapeout job will be available to you on a desktop session (Open Galaxy) on the Efabless platform.  You do need to complete a successful precheck prior to submitting a tapeout job for your project.  More details to follow.  The tapeout job is scheduled to be available on the platform on October 13th. Finally, all users have immediate access to virtual desktop on the Efabless platform for design or troubleshooting their projects.  This no longer requires you go through the process of verifying your account.  You can find the desktop located under ‘Tools -> Open Galaxy’ on the Efabless site. Also note, all github repos have been tagged with ‘mpw-3’ for the shuttle. We will send a further update with times for webinar sessions for walk-thru and Q&A ******************************************************************