Premier Farnell's Live EDGE Competition open

LONDON, UK: Premier Farnell plc,  the leading multi-channel, high service distributor and its companies (Farnell, Newark, Premier Electronics, Farnell-Newark CPC, and MCM), 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 on offer in both the 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 until 31 January 2009, entrants who submit completed designs early will automatically be entered into a monthly regional draw held at the end of October, November and December 2008. One winner from each region will be selected each month from the Europe/Asia (Farnell), Americas (Newark), and Greater 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 programme 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 15 October 2008, Designing for Energy Efficiency. This event will showcase the newest energy efficient 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 excited that the time to submit electronic designs for the 2008 Live EDGE competition is now here,” said Harriet Green, Chief Executive Officer of Premier Farnell plc.  “Once again Live EDGE will showcase the most innovative designs from the global electronic engineering community.  Last year’s competition, the first of its kind, was a huge success and I look forward to seeing the new ideas from this year’s competition.”

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.