DPA’s sister magazine, Electronic Product Design (now Electronic Product Design & Test) inaugurated the highly successful e-Legacy Awards back in 2007.
e-Legacy quickly gained a reputation as the only engineering awards event to recognise excellence, not just in terms of technology and innovative design, but how environmental impact and sustainability issues influenced the design intent.
Now in its seventh year, e-Legacy has an expanded Awards portfolio, as DPA enters the event for the first time. The focus on technology and sustainability remains, but we shall be widening the design horizon to include electro-mechanical as well as electronic engineering disciplines.
The number of awards will also be expanded to eight categories, all of which will reward companies that have demonstrated corporate responsibility, investment in the future and an innovative approach to design.
The venue
For the last five years, the e-Legacy awards ceremony has been held at the Kensington Roof Gardens. With the growth of the awards, however, we have had to move the event to a new, larger venue - OXO2 on the South Bank, near Waterloo Station.
Located beneath a familiar London South Bank landmark, the OXO tower, the venue offers stunning views across the River Thames and promises to provide a memorable setting for the Awards Ceremony and Luncheon, which will be held on 18th March 2014.
The awards
This year’s e-Legacy Awards is divided into eight categories offering even more opportunities for companies to demonstrate how they are building solid foundations for a responsible future through their engineering innovations.
To enter a product or company that you feel is worthy of an e-Legacy award, take a look at the following award category descriptions, select an appropriate category and follow the guidelines. And remember, suitable entries can be nominated for several awards categories.
The Awards Categories
Communication
The ‘Communications Award’ will recognise the companies that will enable further evolution of communication and telecommunications. This advancement could include saving energy, prolonging battery life, securing our personal information, protecting us from data breach or making equipment more sustainable, either through longer lasting materials or by replacing conflict materials.
Education
The ‘Education Award’ will reward investment in education and training by engineering companies. This can be in the form of equipment donations to all levels of students; schools, universities and colleges, whether for curricular support or for extra-curricular projects. It will also recognise equipment or support given to specialists clubs or interest groups. Schemes or initiatives that encourage an interest in engineering will be eligible. Companies that show an exceptional commitment to training, either internally or to customers, are also appropriate for this category.
Energy
The ‘Energy Award’ identifies the considerable advances that have been made in the engineering sector in recent years. These advances have now started to make renewable energy resources viable on a large scale. Other categories look at how companies are using renewable energy resources to good effect and managing energy use for environmental and commercial benefit, but this award is mainly aimed at those companies that are providing the engineering developments that are enabling 'renewables'.
Environmental
The ‘Environmental Award’ will recognise that the foundation of producing environmentally sensitive products are components that use less power, manage processing efficiently, provide more functions, are significantly smaller or lighter, place less thermal demands on surrounding components or provide other environmental advantages. This category rewards the components that enable new ground to be broken in performance and consequently benefit the environment.
Health
The ‘Health Award’ will demonstrate the relief or treatment of a medical condition; identify conditions for the first time, or in a new, more efficient way than previously possible. The award may also be given to the product or system deemed to deliver treatment in a way that liberates patients, for example reducing hospital stays or visits for monitoring. This category is also open to projects that increase mobility and/or independence of users.
Sustainability
The ‘Sustainability Award’ will reward company programmes that encourage the sustainability of manufacturing and raw materials use. Products that use a high degree of recycled materials are eligible, as are products that themselves are recyclable, or use plentiful materials that have minimal environmental impact in their extraction and processing. Products with inherent longevity or a clear upgrade path to ensure long-life-cycles are also eligible, as are environmentally sound packaging/delivery materials and options.
Transportation
The ‘Transportation Award’ will reward the technologies that are reducing our dependence on non-renewable fuels and also those that preserve our existing supplies of fossil fuels in transportation applications. This award covers technologies in all transportation areas, from those that make electric vehicles more efficient and cost effective, to the technologies that enable trains and aircraft to save millions of litres of fuel each year. Some of the technological areas considered for the award include material science, electrical storage, power conversion and electric motors.
Editors’ Choice
The ‘Editors’ Choice Award’ will be chosen from the entire pool of nominations. The editors of EPDT and DPA will choose the company, product or service that they feel best reflects the spirit of e-Legacy and has the potential to make the greatest impact on engineers, business customers or end users.
How to enter
As in previous years, making an entry is quick and simple. All we ask is a brief description of how the nominated product, project or company relates to the chosen e-Legacy Award category. There’s a reasonable amount of time to think about your nominations, but please be aware that your entries must be received no later than 23rd October 2013.
If you or your company feels that it has a product or service that would qualify for any of the awards, send an email to les.hunt@imlgroup.co.uk with a short description of around 100 words plus an image. Alternatively, you can make your nomination online at the DPA website.
A panel of judges will narrow the entries down to finalists for each category, and the readers of EPDT and DPA will then choose the winner from the list of finalists for all categories, apart from Editor’s Choice.
Why not join us at the awards ceremony. If you would like to book a table at the OXO2 event, or indeed talk about a range of sponsorship opportunities, contact DPA publisher, Andrew Quenault as soon as possible – andrew.quenault@imlgroup.co.uk or telephone 01732 359990.
Les Hunt
Editor