Newark element14 moves closer to discovering which designers across the globe could ‘Change the World’

Chicago, Illinois –Wednesday, 15th, March: Newark element14, The Development Distributor, have completed the process of shortlisting entries for their global design competition ‘Change the World’. The competition was launched in 2016 to inspire design engineers of all ages and experience, to explore their ideas and put their design skills to the test with a solution that could change the world for the better with just $1,000 of products from element14. Newark element14 has had the enormous task of reviewing all of the entries and shortlisting 25 finalists to move to the next stage of the competition.

Entrants were asked to select products from element14’s broad range of semiconductor, interconnect and passive products, as well as development boards, single board computers, test equipment, and tools and were tasked with explaining their idea in just 500 words or less.

Commenting on the competition entries, Steve Carr, Head of Marketing for Premier Farnell says, “We have been really impressed with the broad range of entries that we have seen. Design engineers from far and wide have submitted ideas that tackle some of the major themes that affect our world, including green energy production, waste reduction and healthcare, as well as solutions for improving education, health and general well-being. With the quality of the entries we have seen, we have had a hard job shortlisting but we’re really excited about the next step in the competition and seeing how these ideas develop.”

Newark element14 will now begin contacting the 25 designers of the shortlisted entries and will advise them of the next step in the competition. This is where the designers can expand upon their design concepts through submitting a short video, explaining their solution in more detail. From these videos 10 winners will be chosen and announced in June.

Dependant on the winning entries, there may also be the opportunity to spend time with the Newark element14 team to explore the options for taking the design to production.

Although entries for the competition have now closed you can find out the latest about the progress of the competition by visiting the competition website http://element14changetheworld.com.

You can find more details and supporting imagery related to this press release on our newsroom: www.element14.com/news

About us

Newark element14 is part of the Premier Farnell group of businesses, a global technology leader with over 80 years in the high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. Premier Farnell uses this experience to support its broad customer base, from hobbyists to engineers, maintenance engineers and buyers as ‘The Development Distributor’, working with leading brands and start-ups to develop new products for market, and supporting the industry as it seeks to develop the current and next generation of engineers.

Premier Farnell focuses its offering around four core customer journeys:

Education to Maker – Premier Farnell is an official manufacturer of two of the most popular Maker Boards, Raspberry Pi and Beaglebone Black, and exclusive manufacturer of educational programming boards such as the BBC micro:bit and Codebug. Customers are supported through element14.com, the largest online engineering and maker community, also providing support to educators and parents through its new STEM space.
Research and Design Services – Premier Farnell is the no 1 for Development Kits, having worked with the world’s leading Semiconductor companies to design and manufacture their latest development boards in house. A deep understanding and design knowledge of the latest Semiconductor Devices available also supports Premier Farnell’s broader design assistance offering, providing a similar service to customers of all sizes who are seeking additional engineering support.
Design through to Production – Premier Farnell provides an entire solution for design to manufacturing customers, with the broadest range of Semiconductor and Passive inventory available, a world class line card, same day despatch, a strong board level Interconnect proposition and growing Electromechanical proposition. In addition, it has the technical support capabilities to meet all customers’ needs, from simple cross-reference to complex design.
Bench to Board – Premier Farnell offers one of the industry’s broadest ranges of Test & Measurement equipment and a leading line card for all Tool & Production supplies supporting customers from the testing of initial designs to delivering essential maintenance activity to keep their operations running.

Premier Farnell is a business unit of Avnet Electronics Marketing, the components operating group of Avnet, Inc., (NYSE:AVT). Premier Farnell trades as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America, and element14 throughout Asia Pacific. The Premier Farnell Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,500 suppliers and has an extensive inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet the needs of innovative customers everywhere.

Key facts:

Operations in 38 countries and 43 local language transactional websites
More than 3,500 leading suppliers
More than 650,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand
More than 440,000 members of the element14 community
Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation