Newark announces Live EDGE Challenge $100,000 Global Winner and Five $5,000 runner-ups
CHICAGO-FEBRUARY 1, 2008
Panel of judges select the winning entry based on the most creative electronic design that will have a positive impact on the environment. Since its launch in May 2007, over 3,500 design engineers, students and academics from 102 countries have registered for the competition
Newark (www.newark.com), and its parent company, Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl), the leading multi-channel, high service distributor supporting millions of engineers and purchasing professionals globally, has announced the winner of the 2007 Live EDGE (Electronic Design for the Global Environment) challenge as John Noble from Malaysia. John has designed a product called MyFan, a ceiling fan that combines an electronically commutated motor and controller, and aerodynamically efficient blade design that reduces fan input power by up to 66% of that of a traditional ceiling fan. It boasts auxiliary output channels that drive up to 20 watts of integrated LED lighting with up/down lighting modules. The Motor construction is totally enclosed and is available with an IP5x environmental rating.
The judges noted that John's design demonstrated the best originality and innovation of the entered designs, the highest technical merit, a reduced effect on the global environment, provided the best feasibility of design, clearly showed efficient use of energy, provided innovative use of components, good cost optimization, completeness of design dossier and excellent supporting documentation.
"It is a great honor to have my design recognized by such an esteemed panel of judges," said John Noble, winner of Live EDGE 2007 challenge. "Live EDGE has provided design engineers a forum to focus more on the issue of sustainability, and not just growth."
Also providing excellent designs are the five Honorable Mentions; Thomas Reiter a student from Austria designing a unique miniature battery saving switch-mode power supply; Minesh Bhakta from the U.K. designing an energy gauge that helps manage the use of electrical sockets; Carlos Marques from Portugal on behalf of his company ID-Mind, whose design is for a 3D SunTracker optimizing the effectiveness of solar panels; Dale Stepps from Florida on behalf of his company, Inteltech Corporation, for a solid state luminare and Alistair Macfarlane from Scotland designing a LED intelligent light, all receiving $5,000.
The winners were announced at the Live EDGE Virtual Awards Ceremony and Technical Conference on January 31. This web-based event is available on demand anytime during February 2008. To register, and for more details, visit www.live-edge.com
"Our congratulations go out to John, we look forward to working with him to register his design and support him through production into the market," said Harriet Green, CEO of Premier Farnell. "With over 3,500 engineers from over 102 countries involved in this year's Live EDGE challenge, we feel we have really provided an opportunity for environmentally-friendly design and look forward to continuing this challenge in the future. We are proud to encourage the design of products that change the lives of at least 3 billion people. We will constantly work towards providing the best service, technology and support to our critically important design engineering customers."
About Newark
Newark, a subsidiary of global distributor Premier Farnell Ltd, is North America's leading small-quantity distributor of electronic components and test equipment, and its #1 source for RoHS compliant parts and information. RoHS is the acronym for the European Union's Restrictions of certain Hazardous Substances directive, which took effect July 1, 2006.
Visited by thousands of engineers and electronics buyers each week, Newark's RoHS Express site at www.element14.com/community/community/legislation provides critical information to help companies transition to compliance, including: the latest news, on-demand lead-free soldering webinars, downloadable step-by-step guides to compliance and updates on US and Canadian green laws.
In addition to offering the broadest electronics selection from 440+ top manufacturers for same-day shipping, Newark provides a unique range of value-added services at no charge, including, RoHS Bill of Materials updates, eProcurement implementation and support, and automatic re-reeling for components.
With multiple sales channels, customers do business with Newark through contact centers, a local branch network in the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil, a dedicated field sales force and a world-class website at www.Newark.com. The holder of a General Services Administration schedule (#GS-06F-0044M,) Newark also supports federal government customers through a dedicated website, www.teamgov.com, and a specially trained team of representatives.
Newark's parent company, Premier Farnell Ltd, is a leading global marketer and distributor of electronic, maintenance repair and operations (MRO) and specialist products and services, trading in more than 100 countries with a database of 2 million customer contacts. For general information, visit www.Newark.com and www.premierfarnell.com. Also, you can reach Newark's media contact, Janice Fleisher, at 773.907.5941 and at jfleisher@Newarkinone.com.
© Copyright 2007. Newark is a service mark of Premier Farnell Corp. All other trademarks, product or service names displayed in this release, registered or unregistered, constitute the intellectual property of their respective holders.