Premier Farnell's $100K 2008 Live Edge Green Design Competition Now Open For Registration With Special Incentives For Early Submission
October 1, 2008, London, England - Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl)
A Live EDGE Energy Efficiency conference will be hosted at new Virtual "EcoSphere" community on October 15, 2008
Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl), the leading multi-channel, high service distributor and its companies (Newark, Farnell, Premier Electronics, CPC, Farnell-Newark and MCM), today announced that design entries are now being accepted at www.live-edge.com for the international design competition, 'Live EDGE' – Electronic Design for the Global Environment. The competition invites electronic design engineers, students and hobbyists to design products utilizing electronic components, which will positively impact the environment.
Two unique prize packages will be up for grabs in student and open/general competitions, which will run concurrently. The winner of each competition will receive a $25,000 cash award, plus a unique package of support services valued at an additional $25,000 from experts in the fields of Design Consultancy, Marketing, Legal and Commerce, to drive the winning designs towards production.
While submissions are accepted through January 31, 2009, entrants who submit completed designs early are automatically entered into monthly regional drawings held at the end of October, November and December 2008. One winner from each region will be selected each month-from the Americas (Newark), Europe/Asia (Farnell) and China (Premier Electronics)-to receive $2,000. A total of $18,000 will be awarded to help entrants move their designs forward.
Additionally, the Live EDGE program will be hosting a series of technical learning and networking events held in a virtual global community, the Live EDGE EcoSphere. Registration is available at www.live-edge com for the first event on October 15, 2008, Designing for Energy Efficiency This event will showcase the newest energy-efficent technologies from 27 leading component manufacturers, including National Semiconductor, Vishay Intertechnology and Ohmite Manufacturing, who also serve as global supplier sponsors of Live EDGE. Attendees will have the opportunity to chat live with manufacturer representatives and network with colleagues, engineering students and hobbyists. Technical videos and whitepapers will also be available for download.
“We are thrilled that the 2008 Live EDGE competition is now open,” said Harriet Green, Chief Executive Office of Premier Farnell plc. “Live EDGE will support the most innovative ideas that benefit the global environment from design conception through to production in both our student and open categories. Last year's competition was a huge success and I look forward to seeing the new innovations our global electronic design engineers are working on.”
Details on the challenge and the virtual events are located at www.live-edge.com. Live EDGE Design Challenge groups are available on Facebook and LinkedIn.
About LiveEDGE
Electronics engineers, students and inventors around the world are invited to submit designs for an innovative product that utilises electronic components and has a positive impact on the environment.
Entries can be submitted between the 1st of October 2008 and the 31st of January 2009. Judging will start on the 1st of February 2009 and winners will be announced on the 2nd of April 2009. The competition is open to anyone aged 18 or over.
In addition, up to 3 entrants for the full-time student category and 3 entrants for the general/open category will be eligible for 'honourable mentions', each receiving a cash prize of $5,000 USD.
More information about LiveEDGE is available at www.live-edge.com.
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.