LONDON — John Noble, director of Torus Technologies and winner of the 2007 Live EDGE competition, is on the panel of judges for this year's competition. Noble is an electronics engineer who has worked over a decade on commercialisation of electronically commutated (EC) motors & electronic controls.

For the competition Nobel designed a product called MyFan, a ceiling fan that combines an electronically commutated motor and controller, and aerodynamically efficient blade design that reduces fan input power by up to 66 percent of that of a traditional ceiling fan. It boasts auxiliary output channels that drive up to 20 watts of integrated LED lighting with up/down lighting modules. The Motor construction is totally enclosed and is available with an IP5x environmental rating.

Others on the judging panel for the Premier Farnell 2008 Live EDGE Electronic Design Competition for the Global Environment include Sir Peter Gershon, chairman of Premier Farnell plc. who is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering; Steve Sanghi, chairman of Microchip Technology Inc., Indro Mukerjee, chief executive officer of C-MAC MicroTechnology; and Robert Rodin, chairman and CEO of RDN Group and vice chairman, executive director and chairman of the investment committee of CommerceNet which researches and funds open platform, interoperable business services to advance commerce.

Also on the judging panel are Paul Goodman, senior materials consultant, reliability and failure analysis group, ERA Technology Ltd.; Steven J. DeKrey, senior associate Dean and director of Masters Programs at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; and Gottfried Ecker, Dipl.-Ing - senior lecturer in microelectronic and automation technologies in the School of Engineering at Wiener Neustadt, Lower Austria.

The Live EDGE judges will base their decision on criteria including; 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.

Entries can be submitted between October 1, 2008 and January 31, 2009 with judging will start on February 1, 2009 and winners will be announced on April 2, 2009. The competition is open to anyone aged 18 or over.

Registration for the competition and the chance to win the money can be made at the Live Edge website www.live-edge.com or via the Live Edge group on Facebook.