Farnell Announces its International Panel of Expert Judges for the 2007 LiveEdge Competition - First Ever Electronic Design Competition for the Global Environment

26/10/2007 14:36



PR Newswire



LONDON, October 26 /PRNewswire/ --

- 3,200 Engineers From 102 Countries Have Already Signed up to Submit Designs for the Prize Valued at $100,000 U.S.

Farnell, the leading multi-channel, high service distributor supporting millions of engineers and purchasing professionals globally, has announced its expert panel of judges for the international design competition, 'Live Edge' - Electronic Design for the Global Environment. Since its launch in May 2007 over 3,200 design engineers and students from 102 countries have registered to submit their designs to create an innovative product that utilises electronic components and has a positive impact on the environment. There's still time to register. The top 10 countries currently for registrations are (in order) the U.S., U.K., China, India, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Brazil and France.

The 2007 LiveEdge competition panel of judges comprises; Sir Peter Gershon, - Chairman of Premier Farnell, plc - Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a governor of Imperial College, Professor Sir David King - UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Government Office for Science, Mr. Mark Kenber - Director of The Climate Change Group, Dr. Alla Cordery - Head of Electronic Engineering, Oxford, Mr. Rob Rodin - President of eConnections USA, Mr. Max Huber - President Sharp Microelectronics, Mr. Yu Donghai, Dean of Electronics Engineering, Southeast University, China and Mr. Mingtao Jiang, Section Chief, Information Technology Development, China Ministry of Information Industry (MII).

The LiveEdge judging criteria include usefulness of the application, originality and innovation, technical merit, its effect on the global environment , feasibility of the design, efficient use of energy, end of life consideration, innovative use of components, cost optimisation, completeness of design dossier and clarity of supporting documentation.

The 2007 LiveEdge awards will be presented at a virtual awards ceremony via the Internet on 31st January 2008. This year's LiveEdge winner will also have the honour to be a member of the 2008 panel of judges for next year's competition and will be supported by Farnell to take their design through to prototype.

In addition to an outright winner the Awards will also recognise 5 Highly Commended designs.

"We are immensely proud to have such a distinguished world-renowned group of industry professionals as our panel of judges for this first ever electronic design competition for the global environment," said Harriet Green, Chief Executive Office of Premier Farnell plc. "With over 3,200 designs registered, and the feedback we have received it is clear that the design engineering community has really embraced this opportunity to have a positive impact on the future of the environment and see their own vision become a reality."

About LiveEdge:

The winning entrant will receive a cash prize of US $50,000 as well as the support to move the design towards production. The support package, estimated to be worth an additional US $50,000, will include the services of an electronic design consultancy that will develop the design to prototype stage, assistance with legal matters and IP registration, marketing and publicity, as well as Farnell's help in securing investment funding. The group will actively market the end product to millions of customers globally through their leading edge Web site, catalogue and direct marketing.

In addition, up to five entrants will be eligible for 'honourable mentions', each receiving a cash prize of US $5,000.

The closing date for registration is October 31st 2007 and entries must be submitted by November 30th 2007. The competition is open to anyone aged 18 or over and the winner will be announced in January 2008.

More information about Live Edge is available at http://www.LiveEdge.com.

About Premier Farnell

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a leading high service, multi-channel distributor of electronic, maintenance, repair and operation products and specialist services throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. It goes to market with a differentiated value proposition, world-class marketing, a stocked range of 400,000+ products, with access to more items from over 3,000 of the world's leading manufacturers. The company has group sales of GBP823.1m and 4,100 employees globally.

While global in scope, Premier Farnell recognizes the individual needs of each market and has continued to internationalize its model accordingly, trading locally under different brand names. Its primary electronics businesses trade as Farnell in the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Newark in the US, Canada and Mexico, and Premier Electronics in China. In Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Brazil the operation is known as Farnell Newark. For more information visit the website at
http://www.premierfarnell.com

Contact details for publication and editorial enquiries:

Kate Robson
Marketing Campaigns Manager
Farnell
Tel: +44(0)113-387-5110
Fax: +44(0)113-387-5183
Email: krobson@farnellinone.com

Issued by:

Jonathan Roberts, Account Director, Pinnacle Marketing Communications Ltd, Prosperity House, Dawlish Drive, Pinner, Middlesex, HA5 5LN, UK Email: jonathan@pinnaclemarcom.com Tel: +44(0)208-869-9401
Web: http://www.pinnacle-marketing.com