Winner of $100,000 environmental product design challenge to be announced Jan. 31 at Live EDGE Virtual Awards Ceremony & Technical Conference
CHICAGO-JANUARY 28, 2008
Newark (www.newark.ca), and its parent company, Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl), the leading multi-channel, high service distributor supporting millions of engineers and purchasing professionals globally, have announced that registration has begun at www.live-edge.com for the first ever technical conference and awards ceremony for Live EDGE - Electronic Design for the Global Environment.
Held virtually on Thursday, January 31, 2008 from 8am-12pm EST, the global event aims to attract press, design engineers and the environmentally-concerned the world over. Premier Farnell CEO Harriet Green will announce the winner of the $100,000 prize package at 9am EST in the virtual Conference Hall. She will also name the 5 Honorable Mention designs that will each receive $5,000. A live chat session with some of the judges and the winner is planned.
The top prize offers $50,000 cash and an additional $50,000 in legal, prototyping and marketing services to help to bring the winning design to market. Live EDGE, launched last May, challenged electronics engineers, students and academics around the world to submit designs for an innovative product that utilizes electronic components, and has a positive impact on the environment. The submission deadline was November 30, 2007.
At the technical conference in the Exhibit Hall, attendees have the opportunity to chat live with technical experts from five top global electronics manufacturers: Microchip, Murata PS, Molex, National Semiconductor and Cypress. In addition, participants can download technical articles, network, learn about Premier Farnell job opportunities, win one of the prizes that will be awarded every half hour, and hear about the next Live EDGE challenge. For registrants, the entire event will be available on demand through the month of February.
Since the challenge launched in May 2007, the www.live-edge.com site has received over half a million hits and over 3,400 registrants from more than 100 countries around the world. The top 10 countries that garnered the most registrations (in order) are the US, UK, China, India, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Brazil and France.
Judging for Live EDGE was conducted by a distinguished international panel: 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 – Former 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, and Mr. Max Huber – President Sharp Microelectronics.