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 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
- Mark Kenber – Director of The Climate Change Group
- Dr. Alla Cordery - Head of Electronic Engineering, Oxford
- Rob Rodin - President of eConnections USA
- Max Huber – President Sharp Microelectronics
- Yu Donghai, Dean of Electronics Engineering, Southeast University, China and
- 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.
Harriet Green, Chief Executive Office of Premier Farnell plc said, “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.”
“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.