The third annual e-Legacy Awards results and onto the fourth in 2010

The e-Legacy Awards produced some surprises and lots of gasps of admiration as the winners of this year’s Awards were announced at the Roof Gardens in Kensington, London, on 4th November 2009.

Among the greenery of the Spanish and Tudor Gardens, finalists and their representatives mingled with members of the UK and European press whilst enjoying a pre-lunch glass of mulled wine. During the three-course meal, I was privileged to announce the Award winners. All finalists were examples of how foresight and investment to develop talent can produce huge dividends. The Education category is an obvious example, but the finalists in other categories, such as the popular Environmental Design, Contribution to Sustainability and Investment in the Environment are also fine examples of how electronics companies are anticipating the future.

The Medical Advances category was particularly strong this year with some outstanding entries.

The readers of Electronic Product Design voted in their thousands to decide which company had done the most to ensure an electronics legacy. There were just under 6,000 votes received from the UK, Europe and the United States, showing just how passionate engineers are about the issues addressed by The e-Legacy Award categories.

Every company who made it to become one of the finalists beat strong opposition, with an exceptionally high quality and high number of entries. The judges whittled the 80 plus entries down to six finalists in each of the six categories.

The range of companies that entered was diverse with entries from all sectors, national and multi-national companies, addressing niche and broad market sectors. We were equally thrilled to receive a high calibre of nominations not just from Europe but from the US as well.

The e-Legacy Awards are the electronics industry’s way of counter-balancing the bad press it receives for using chemicals and creating waste. It is too easy to spread the negative message and on the following pages you will see a very positive side of our industry, the intellect it nurtures and the positive contribution it makes to lives not just to day but to tomorrow.

Two of the most popular categories were Contribution to Sustainability and Environmental Design, showing how electronics companies are conscious of the drain on the earth’s resources and are proactive in combating environmental deterioration.

We were pleased to see some well-known, international companies up for awards, competing against smaller, local projects, showing that the idea behind The e-Legacy Awards is universal and applicable to all, regardless of size and resources. Some of the winners may surprise you, sometimes the answer does not need loads of financial backing, just an understanding of the problem and a creative approach to its solution.

Suffice to say, we couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for taking the time to vote and encouraging companies to be responsible. Thank you to our sponsors, who encouraged and supported EPD’s efforts to promote the electronics industry and to improve its image.

Thank you everyone who took the time to enter a nomination and congratulations to all those who made it to the finalists stage and of course, congratulations to this year’s winners.

Together, we have made a better future through electronics.

For all the winners and pictures please click on the relevant link below.