Energy Efficiency and Lighting Conference Announced as Part of Premier Farnell's $100,000 USD Live EDGE Green Design Competition

LONDON, December 2  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- - Live Chat Session With the "Energy Zarr"- Richard Zarr, Chief Technologist, PowerWise Solutions of National Semiconductor to Discuss a White Paper on Metrics of Energy Efficiency

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl), the leading multi-channel, high service distributor and its companies (Farnell, Newark, Premier Electronics, Farnell-Newark CPC, and MCM), today announced the Live EDGE competition will be hosting a series of technical learning and networking events held in a virtual global community, the Live EDGE EcoSphere. Registration and the event schedule are now available for the Energy Efficiency and Lighting conference at http://www.live-edge.com/ecosphere starting on the 11th of December 2008.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081203/330536 )

This innovative event will showcase the newest energy efficient technologies from 31 leading component manufacturers, including National Semiconductor, Vishay Intertechnology and Ohmite Manufacturing, who are global supplier sponsors of Live EDGE. Attendees will have the opportunity to chat live with manufacturer representatives and network with fellow electronic engineers, engineering students and hobbyists. Technical videos and whitepapers will also be available for download.

Live chats and presentations are scheduled throughout the event. Topics include; Powered Ethernet for Power Hungry Devices presented by Linear Technology, Power Management Applications presented by Texas Instruments, PowerWise Products presented by the Lighting Design Center of National Semiconductor, High Bright LEDs presented by Cree, Solar Energy: Low Voltage DC-DC Converter presented by Power Supply System Engineering of ON Semiconductor and many more.

"We are excited about the potential of 2008 Live EDGE competition and how it now encompasses the added benefits of our EcoSphere, providing education and innovative electronic design discussions for the global design community," 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 LiveEDGE challenge and the virtual events are located at http://www.live-edge.com/. Attendees can also win an iPod from random drawings held throughout the event as well as other prizes from the 31 component manufacturers. Live EDGE Design Challenge groups are also available on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Editors Note:

High resolution images of the virtual EcoSphere can be found at: http://www.pinnaclemarcoms.com/PR_PICTURES/Premier_Farnell/EcoSphere.jpg

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 http://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 http://www.premierfarnell.com/.

  Contact Details:

  Jenny Peters
  Head of Corporate Communication
  Premier Farnell plc, and Asia
  Tel: [phone]
  Email: 
  Web: http://www.premierfarnell.com/

  Janice Fleisher
  PR & Communications Manager
  Newark
  The Americas
  Tel: [phone]
  Email: 

  Jonathan Roberts
  Account Director
  Pinnacle Marketing Communications Ltd,
  Tel: [phone]
  Email: 
  Web: http://www.pinnaclemarcom.com/

  Quintin Komaromy
  Head of Commercial Marketing
  Farnell
  Europe
  Tel: [phone]
  Email: 


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DATASOURCE: Premier Farnell plc



CONTACT:  Contact Details: Jenny Peters, Head of Corporate

Communication, Premier Farnell plc, and Asia, Tel: [phone], Email:

; Janice Fleisher, PR & Communications Manager,

Newark, The Americas, Tel: [phone], Email: ;

Jonathan Roberts, Account Director, Pinnacle Marketing Communications Ltd,

Tel: [phone], Email: ; Quintin

Komaromy, Head of Commercial Marketing, Farnell, Europe, Tel:

[phone], Email: 

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