Electrocomponents : Electronics Weekly and RS Components launch initiative to find the UK’s brightest young engineers

EW BrightSparks celebrates engineering talent and aims to inspire the design engineers of tomorrow

Oxford, UK, 26 October 2016 - RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the global distributor for engineers, has today launched an initiative in partnership with leading electronics publication Electronics Weekly to celebrate the most talented electronic design engineers across the UK. EW BrightSparks aims to seek out young engineers who are already making an impact, perhaps in the early stages of their career, or still in education but showing potential for future innovation in the electronics industry.

EW BrightSparks is open to nominees aged between 16 and 30, who are based in the UK. Nominees must be actively pursuing a career in electronics engineering or studying it in further or higher education. Entries will be accepted from the nominee or from a third party and are encouraged from all areas of the electronics industry, including start-ups, SMEs and corporate businesses employing electronics engineers in the UK.

Nominations can now be submitted via www.electronicsweekly.com by completing the online form or by uploading a 3-minute video. The closing date for nominations is Saturday 18th February 2017 at 17:30 GMT.

The search for EW BrightSparks is not limited to one winner but will celebrate a group of young engineers, highlighting achievements in areas such as robotics, automation, aviation, gaming, programming, the Internet of Things and much more.

Nominations will be judged and shortlisted by a panel of professionals from across the electronics industry, including Electronics Weekly Chief Editor Richard Wilson, Lindsley Ruth, Group Chief Executive of Electrocomponents, and Dr Lucy Rogers, who is currently a judge on the BBC's Robot Wars.

The winning entrants will be announced in April 2017, and will be invited to a celebration event in London to showcase their ideas and talents, and to meet some influential and motivational people from the industry.

Dr Lucy Rogers commented: 'EW BrightSparks is a fantastic programme. Electronics design impacts everyone and is one way that young people can have a really positive effect on the world. I look forward to seeing some of the new ideas and projects this programme helps to highlight.'

For full details and to submit an entry visit www.electronicsweekly.com.

-Ends-

About RS Components
RS Components and Allied Electronics are the trading brands of Electrocomponents plc, the global distributor for engineers. With operations in 32 countries, we offer more than 500,000 products through the internet, catalogues and at trade counters to over one million customers, shipping more than 44,000 parcels a day. Our products, sourced from 2,500 leading suppliers, include electronic components, electrical, automation and control, and test and measurement equipment, and engineering tools and consumables.

Electrocomponents is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the last financial year ended 31 March 2016 had revenues of £1.29bn.

For more information, please visit the website at www.rs-online.com.

Editorial Contact
Aakriti Kaushik
PR Manager - EMEA
RS Components
Aakriti.Kaushik@rs-components.com
+44 (0)7795 400651

PR Agency Contact
Janice Fenton
Account Director
Publitek Technology PR
janice.fenton@publitek.com
+44 (0)1225 470000

Further information is available via these links:
Twitter: @RSComponents; @alliedelec; @designsparkRS
RS Components on Linkedin
www.linkedin.com/company/rs-components

Electrocomponents plc
www.electrocomponents.com
RS Components
www.rs-online.com
DesignSpark
www.designspark.com