1. technology and computing

Element14 Challenges Engineers to Design Wearable Health Devices for Athletes
“Sudden Impact” competition seeks solutions that prevent sports-related injuries on the field
Nov. 3, 2014 – Chicago – The element14 Community, in collaboration with Analog Devices Inc, Tektronix,
Electrolube and Leeds Beckett University, today announces the launch of the “Sudden Impact” Wearable
Design Challenge. A group of 15 finalists will be selected to develop wearable technology solutions for athletes
to track their health and for coaches or medical practitioners to monitor players on the field in real-time. Any
and all interested participants around the world are invited to submit their project proposals now via the
element14 Community.
“The wearable health market is an opportunity for leading technology companies like element14 to not only
participate, but to lead and drive meaningful, measurable change for end-users,” said Dianne Kibbey, Global
Head of Community, element14. “Through our Sudden Impact Challenge, we’re proud to empower engineers
with the resources and products to develop smarter, more responsive health and fitness solutions and to
empower athletes, coaches and trainers with the ability to prevent injuries and potentially save lives.”
The finalists will receive the following tools and resources to aid in their designs:
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A kit of advanced components from Analog Devices, including a digital and analog MEMS
accelerometer, a single-lead heart rate monitor, digital temperature sensor and ARM Cortex-M3 chip
A Tektronix 120B-EDU Oscilloscope
Advanced polymers from Electrolube to help protect the wearable solutions
A $500/€375 budget from element14 for additional parts and purchases
Each solution will be tested by the School of Computing and Creative Technologies at Leeds Beckett
University. The “Sudden Impact” prototypes will be judged according to a series of four criteria:
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Effective use of the kit provided
Simple enough for a secondary school or high school technology class to assemble and use
Durable against a variety of athletic environments
A qualitative leap in health measurement capabilities, providing coaches, athletes and medical
professionals with critical diagnostic information
The finalists will also be judged on the content they produce throughout the course of the challenge.
Competitors will blog about their progress on a weekly basis at the element14 Community from December 1,
2014 to March 20, 2015.
The Grand Prize Winner will be announced by March 27, 2015 and receive a Tektronix MDO3104 Oscilloscope
($13,900 value), and Analog Devices Inc is providing a 13-inch MacBook Air and a Withings Home. All
challengers who are deemed to have successfully completed the challenge will receive a Withings Pulse,
provided by Analog Devices Inc.
For information on the Sudden Impact challenge, visit: http://www.element14.com/suddenimpact.
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Additional Content:
“This challenge stimulates creative thinking in engineering for the benefit of athletes,” said Professor Reinhold
Behringer. “Leeds Beckett University is proud to be part of this challenge and will help select the winning entry
with our expertise in technology and sports.”
“Electrolube are very excited to be part of this initiative,” said Robert Crosby-Clark, European Brand Director
for Electrolube. “We believe this challenge will be an excellent platform for the creation of new ideas and
innovative designs and will find new problems for our products to solve.”
About the Premier Farnell Group
Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl) is a global leader in high service distribution of technology products and solutions
for electronic system design, production, maintenance and repair. It trades as Farnell element14 in Europe,
Newark element14 in North America and element14 across Asia Pacific. With sales last year of £968m, the
Group is supported by a global supply chain of more than 3,500 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to
anticipate and meet its customers’ needs.
Premier Farnell works with key strategic suppliers to bring to market development kits in a variety of
applications, enabling it to support the customer from design concept through to production.
The latest products, software, services and solutions from trusted supplier partners are all available through 43
local language transactional websites, with customer support provided by degreed engineers. The element14
Community allows buyers and engineers to access a wide range of independent technical information, tools
and the latest resources.
For news updates from Premier Farnell and element14 visit:
Premier Farnell News Centre – www.premierfarnell.com/media-centre
Twitter - @element14news; @element14
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Email: [email protected]
Premier Farnell Key facts
 Operations in 36 different countries
 More than 4,300 employees
 More than 3,500 leading suppliers
 More than 500,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand
 Leaders in providing information on REACH, Conflict Minerals and EU RoHS legislation
For more information visit the website at Premier Farnell.
Global Contact:
Ken Leitch
Global Head of PR
Tel: +44 207 851 4145
Email: [email protected]
Global PR Agency:
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EML Wildfire
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About Analog Devices
Innovation, performance, and excellence are the cultural pillars on which Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI) has
built one of the longest standing, highest growth companies within the technology sector. Acknowledged
industry-wide as the world leader in data conversion and signal conditioning technology, Analog Devices
serves over 60,000 customers, representing virtually all types of electronic equipment. Analog Devices is
headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, with design and manufacturing facilities throughout the world.
Analog Devices is included in the S&P 500 Index. www.analog.com.
Contact:
Bob Olson
Analog Devices, Inc.
Tel: +1 781 937 1666
Email: [email protected]
Andrew MacLellan
Porter Novelli
Tel: +1 617 897 8270
Email: [email protected]