Premier Farnell’s $100,000 Live EDGE Competition Now Open for Registration

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.

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 1 October 2008 and the 31 January 2009. Judging will start on the 1 February 2009 and winners will be announced on the 2 of April 2009. The competition is open to anyone aged 18 or over.

The winning entrant for both the full-time student and the general/open category will receive a cash prize of $25,000 USD as well as a design support package valued at an additional $25,000 to move their design towards production. The support package will include the services of an electronic design consultancy to help develop the design to prototype stage, assistance with legal matters and IP registration, some marketing and publicity, as well as Premier Farnell’s help in securing investment funding. The group will actively market the end product to millions of customers globally through their leading edge website, catalogue and direct marketing.

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.

More information about Live EDGE is available at www.Live-EDGE.com.

About Premier Farnell:
Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a leading high service, multi-channel distributor of electronic, maintenance, repair and operation products and specialist services throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. While global in scope, and with over 4,100 employees Premier Farnell recognizes the individual needs of each market and has continued to internationalize its model accordingly, trading locally under different brand names. Its primary electronics businesses trade as Farnell in the UK, Europe, India, Australia and New Zealand, Newark in the US, Canada and Mexico, and Premier Electronics in Greater China. In Singapore, Malaysia, and Brazil the operation is known as Farnell Newark. For information visit www.premierfarnell.com.