Premier Electronics Announces its International Panel of Expert Judges for the 2007 LiveEdge Competition - First Ever Electronic Design Competition for the Global Environment

Premier Electronics Announces its International Panel of Expert Judges for the 2007 LiveEdge Competition - First Ever Electronic Design Competition for the Global Environment

October 27, 2007

3,200 engineers from 102 countries have already signed up
to submit designs for the prize valued at $100,000 U.S.

    SHANGHAI, China, Oct. 27 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Premier
Electronics, 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's 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, Mr. Mark Kenber -
Director of The Climate Change Group,  Dr. Alla Cordery -
Head of Electronic Engineering, Oxford, Mr. Rob Rodin -
President of eConnections USA, Mr. Max Huber - President
Sharp Microelectronics, Mr. Yu Donghai, Dean of Electronics
Engineering, Southeast University, China and Mr. 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 Premier Electronics to
take their design through to prototype.

    In addition to an outright winner the Awards will also
recognise 5 Highly Commended designs.

    "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," said Harriet Green, Chief Executive
Office of Premier Farnell plc.  "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 Premier
Electronics' 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. 

    More information about Live Edge is available at
http://www.LiveEdge.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.
It goes to market with a differentiated value proposition,
world-class marketing, a stocked range of 400,000+
products, with access to  more items from over 3,000 of the
world's leading manufacturers. The company has group sales
of 823.1m pounds Sterling and 4,100 employees globally.

    While global in scope, 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, Australia
and New Zealand, Newark in the US, Canada and Mexico, and
Premier Electronics in China. In Singapore, Malaysia, Hong
Kong and Brazil the operation is known as Farnell Newark. 
For more information visit the website at
http://www.premierfarnell.com


    Contact details for publication and editorial
enquiries:

    Athena Wang
    Managing Director
    Premier Electronics
    Mobile: [phone]
    Email:  [e-mail] 

    Issued by:
    Jonathan Roberts, Account Director, Pinnacle Marketing
Communications Ltd,
    Prosperity House, Dawlish Drive, Pinner, Middlesex, HA5
5LN, UK 
    Email:   [e-mail] 
    Tel:     [phone]	
    Website: http://www.pinnacle-marketing.com