Element14 announces EAGLE design winners

E lement14 a collaborative community and electronics store for design engineers and electronics enthusiasts, part of the Premier Farnell Group, has announced the winners of the EAGLE design competition, aimed at brining together the most innovative design engineering communities using CadSoft EAGLE's Version 6. The competition launched in May 2012 and saw element14 collaborate with CadSoft and Microchip to invite engineers to submit their most innovative design projects created with CadSoft's EAGLE Version 6 and containing a Microchip MCU or DSC. First place was awarded to Manuel Storzer from Germany, who entered a Multisource high efficiency class-D power amplifier. The device can be supplied with signals by USB and is supported by Windows and MAC OS computers. Manuel was awarded with a DELL Alienware M17x r3 and EAGLE Version 6 Professional including all modules. Second place was achieved by the "WiFi Espresso Machine Controller". A coffee machine linked to a digital switch, allowing the user to turn the machine on and off remotely. The prize a Microchip MPLAB ICD3 Debugger, Microchip Explorer 16 Demo Board , Microchip PICDEM 2 Plus 8-Bit Demo Board, EAGLE Version 6 Professional including all three modules. Third place went to a "Secure Visual Timestamp", a device that uses frequently changing algorithms to avoid intruders from hacking into security systems. The engineer won EAGLE Version 6 Standard including all three modules.

The judging was made up of a selection of technical experts including Ed Robledo, TechSupport engineer and Richard Hammerl, TechSupport engineer from CadSoft, Chris Sullivan, Global Head of Approach Marketing from Premier Farnell, Patrick Kelly, Global Digital Marketing manager from element14 Community and Dirk Müller, Field Application manager Central Europe from Microchip along with the independent EAGLE expert Prof. Dr. Francesco Volpe from University of Applied Sciences, Aschaffenburg. The judging criteria looked at the clarity of the projects' description, the electronic concept, design quality and complexity as well as the functionality. The judges deliberated for seven days before narrowing down the entries to select the winner. The panel commented on the exceptional standard of the designs and the originally of the projects. "CadSoft's idea to start an EAGLE Design Contest was so exciting for me that when I was asked to work in the external judging panels I immediately accepted and felt honoured. During the contest I had the possibility to see how people were using EAGLE for their designs in so many different ways. The quality of the submitted designs impressed me. It was good to see, that the ideas and designs of individuals were as professional as the submissions of commercial products". said Prof. Dr. Francesco Volpe. All designs here