Design the next innovation in EAGLE V6 on element14’s EAGLE design competition

element14, the first collaborative community and electronics store for design engineers and electronics enthusiasts and a part of global electronics distributor Premier Farnell [LON:PFL], has teamed with CadSoft Computer GmbH to invite engineers to take part in the EAGLE Design Competition between 01 May to 31 August 2012.

Electronic design engineers and enthusiasts will need to submit their innovative design projects to win prizes with a pot value of $7000. The competition, which is powered by Microchip and hosted on the element14 Community, aims to bring the most innovative design engineering communities together using CadSoft EAGLE’s Version 6.

To enter the competition applicants must ensure that all designs use EAGLE Version 6 and that a Microchip MCU or DSC is integrated in the design. After registering on the element14 Community, users can submit a screenshot of their layout and add a description of their project on the competition page. Users who do not have an EAGLE license can download a free 30-days trial version onwww.element14.com/eagle-freemium to participate in the contest.

“EAGLE is an established PCB design software tool in the engineering community used globally by customers from large companies to students and individuals,” said Thomas Liratsch, General Manager of CadSoft. “A large number of universities, schools and colleges have an EAGLE license in place and numerous well known brands love and use our award winning software every day. This gave us the perfect reason not to limit the competition to a special target group or topic. We have varied users with great ideas and are excited to see their submissions.”

“The choice of MCU remains critical to most product developments so we are delighted to partner with CadSoft in the EAGLE Design Challenge,” said Mike McGlade, Channel Manager of Microchip. “Microchip’s extensive range of 8/16/32-Bit MCUs/DSCs will cater for both novice and expert entrants in this contest.”

The prizes:

DELL Alienware M17x r3 + EAGLE version 6 Professional incl. all three modules
MICROCHIP – DV164037 – KIT, EVAL, ICD3 W/ EXPLORER 16 & DM163022-1 8-Bit development board + EAGLE Version 6 Professional incl. all three modules
EAGLE Version 6 Standard incl. all three modules

The outcome of the competition will feature peer-voting from the element14 community. Members of the leading global technology community can “like” entries and comment on the submission. Based on the community “likes” and comments, a judging panel consisting of CadSoft, Premier Farnell and Microchip representatives along with independent EAGLE expert Prof. Dr. Francesco Volpe from the University of Applied Sciences in Aschaffenburg will pick the winners.

Judging criteria include clarity in description of the product, the electronic concept, the design complexity, the design quality and the functionality.

For more details and terms and conditions please visit: www.element14.com/eagle-competition.

About CadSoft:

CadSoft Computer GmbH and CadSoft Inc. are part of Premier Farnell plc., one of the world’s leading distributors of electronic components, products and services. CadSoft specialises in the development of the popular CAD-Software EAGLE used by design engineers worldwide for over 20 years. EAGLE is a user-friendly, powerful and affordable software for efficient circuit board design (PCB design) and combines the modules schematic editor, layout editor and autorouter on one single interface. Shared Open Source User Language Programs (ULPs) guarantee maximum flexibility by enabling various features, such as simulation, realization of individual instruction sequences, data export and import. DesignLink feature provides access to data and prices on over 4 million products from Newark, Farnell and element 14. EAGLE users benefit from free support through dedicated experts, active customer forums, the EAGLE community on element 14, webinars and training on demand.

EAGLE is available for Linux^®, Mac^® and Windows^®. CadSoft EAGLE PCB design software was recently awarded ‘Product of the Year – Engineer Software 2012 award’ by German magazine Elektronik for the 7^th time.

About Premier Farnell

Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions for electronic system design, maintenance and repair. Its differentiated proposition includes 29 local language transactional websites, and the critically important element14 Community for design engineers – an industry first (www.element14.com). With sales last year of £990.8m and underlying profits of £93.3m the Group distributes its comprehensive portfolio of products and services throughout Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, supported by a global supply chain of over 3,500 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.

While global in scope, Premier Farnell recognises the individual needs of each market and has continued to internationalise its model accordingly. It trades locally as Farnell element14 in Europe, Newark element14 in North America and Farnell Newark in Brazil. Across Asia Pacific the business trades as element14.

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