Electronics Weekly presents the names of those companies and products which have been short-listed in the Elektra 06 European electronic industry awards.

An independent judging panel, which included specialists from Afdec, Envirowise, ISLI, NMI, Qinetiq Roke Manor Research and the University of Manchester, concluded that the quality of the entries this year were particularly impressive and wide-ranging.

The winners in each of the 14 categories will be announced at a gala dinner on Wednesday November 15th at the Arabella Sheraton in Munich.
 

Manufacturer of the Year
Sponsored by Avnet-Memec

  • Eldon Electric
  • Fastwel
  • TSMC Europe
 Avnet-Memec

Supplier of the Year
Sponsored by Hamilton Parker International

  • Imagination Technologies
  • IQE
  • ML Electronics
  • Silicon Laboratories
  • Sony Semiconductor and Electronic Solutions
 Hamilton Parker International

Distributor of the Year
Sponsored by Avago Technologies

  • Abacus Group
  • Arrow
  • Azzurri Technology
  • Farnell InOne
  • RS Components
  • TTI Europe
Avago Technologies

Company of the Year
Sponsored by International Rectifier

The winner of this prestigious award will be selected from the winners of all categories.
 

 International Rectifier

Product of the Year
Sponsored by RS Components

Digmesa AG - A flow sensor device which incorporates a new design which allows it to be used to also measure density and temperature for a wide range of fluids.

Lambda Europe - Genesys range of 3.3 kW DC supplies are intended to simplify the process of powering up medical and communications systems by offering basic programmability.

National Instruments - LabVIEW 8, the latest version of the firm's graphical analysis software includes distributed intelligence based on a patent-pending shared variable technology.

Synplicity - Graph-based physical synthesis technology which improves timing closure by means of a single-pass physical synthesis flow for 90nm FPGAs

Tektronix - The portable DPO4000 oscilloscope is notable for the range of its serial triggering, protocol decoding, and analysis capabilities and its Wave Inspector analysis tool.

Triteq - This is a disposable electronic device that improves the quality and reliability of foetal blood sampling during labour. The design allowed the firm to manufacture competitively in the UK.

RS Components

System-on-Chip Design for Industrial & Automotive Applications
Sponsored by Electronica 06

International Rectifier -The iMotion design platform for sensorless motor control for direct-drive permanent magnet synchronous motor washing machines.

Ramtron - 16kbit FM25C160 FRAM memory device designed with a 5V operating voltage and SPI interface for use as non-volatile memory in smart airbag systems.

Toshiba - Capricorn is a 64-bit Risc-based SoC with integrated graphics controller, designed specifically to reduce component count in automotive graphic displays.

Semiconductor Product of the Year
Sponsored by Azzurri Technology

Actel - FusionT is the firm's first mixed-signal FPGA which integrates analogue capabilities with flash memory and FPGA fabric in one chip.

CSR - BlueCore5-FM is a single chip radio and baseband IC for Bluetooth 2.4GHz systems including support for higher speed data rates to 3Mbit/s.

Analog Devices - ADIS16201 iSensor integrates a MEMS accelerometer and temperature sensor and provides a direct output, linear-in-degrees inclinometer in one device.

STMicroelectronics - The STw4141 DC-DC voltage converter allows two different output voltages to be generated using a single external coil.

Wolfson Microelectronics - The WM8985 stereo codec has a dual mode headphone driver which dynamically switches between Class A/B and Class D amplifier drivers.

Xignal Technologies AG - A family of low power 12-bit (XT11200) and 14-bit (XT11400) analogue-to digital converters with a typical power consumption of 55mW.

 Azzurri

Embedded System Innovation of the Year
Sponsored by Gleichmann Electronics

AMI Semiconductor - The BelaSigna acoustic shock protocol runs on DSP-based audio processing systems to provide conformance to the European noise at work legislation.

Green Hills Software - A version of the firm's TimeMachine software visualisation tool which enables code visibility without requiring recompilation of the application.

LynuxWorks - For what is claimed to be the only commercial operating system to be certified by the FAA as a reusable software component (RSC), allowing it to be implemented in safety critical avionics.

PrismTech - The OpenFusion environment is designed to provide a real-time, low footprint embedded standards based CORBA Middleware Solution for DSP platforms.

RF Engines - ChannelCore64 allows designers to replace up to 16 specialist DDC Asic devices with a single IP core embedded in an FPGA.

Gleichmann

Investing in People Award

Avnet EM (Europe) - The firm created a management foundation programme in response to the findings of an employee survey which combined a structured approach giving trainees context in which to analyse problems and the tools to solve them.

International Rectifier - As well as global training programmes which range from in-depth technical training to interpersonal skills, the firm also addresses career development on a local and regional level.

National Semiconductor - A company-wide professional development programme incorporates an Engineering Competency Framework outlining the critical hard and soft skill sets needed for collaborative work in an engineering and manufacturing company.

Remploy Electronics - The firm manages career development on a personal basis for each employee through a personal development plan, which this year has focussed on industry-specific skills.

 

Environmental Award
Sponsored by Omron Europe

Datec Technologies - The firm has made specific efforts to be compliant with environmental legislation and to assist customers throughout Europe to interpret regulations and also ensure compliance. Full audit trails have been recorded for waste streams.

Farnell InOne - The firm's work to prepare for and to be complaint with the RoHS Directive includes customer support services and the award of the BSI 'RoHS Trusted' Kitemark.

RS Components - In preparing for the RoHS Directive the firm talked to over 700 suppliers to obtain product compliance information. It then introduced product compliance flags throughout the online order process and printable certificates of compliance.

Samsung - The firm's Eco-Partner programme ensures the adequacy of environmental management programmes of over 3,000 suppliers globally and is enforced by over 600 internal auditors.

Omron Electronic Components Europe BV

R&D Award
Sponsored by Renesas Technology

Electron Parametrics - Precision Circuit Generator to emulate an arbitrary collection of power sources, circuit components and measuring instruments in software.

National Semiconductor - VIP50 BiCMOS SOI and low leakage process which allows operational amplifiers to operate at 125 deg C.

Newnham Technology - A lossless graphics transport protocol and hardware video rendering engine for network in/video out (NIVO).

Quantum Research - A capacitive touch screen technology called QField based on a patented charge transfer sensing technique.

 Renesas

Design Application of the Year
Sponsored by Sony

Eleksen Group - For a range of ready-to-integrate ElekTex smart fabric controls for portable consumer electronic devices such as iPods and mobile phones.

Omron Electronic Components - A patented Micro Lens Array (MLA) technology which cuts cost and size of fibre optic multiplexers in storage and access networks.

PicoChip Designs - The PC8208 modem reference design for a 3G/HSDPA basestation for use in a home or small office as an alternative to WiFi.

Triteq - For Identicom, a lone worker protection device that embeds tri-band GSM, battery and power management in an ID badge.

 Sony

Online Business Award
Sponsored by Amplicon

  • Farnell InOne
  • Rapid Electronics
  • RS Components
Amplicon

Start-up of the Year
Sponsored by Toshiba

  • DeepStream Technologies
  • Exception Group
  • Icera
 Toshiba

Award for Innovation - Readers' Choice
Sponsored by Analog Devices

Readers of Electronics Weekly have been asked to vote for the innovation of the year from the following shortlist.

  • The Bug DAB digital radio from PURE
  • Smart fabric touchpad from Eleksen
  • Miniature OLED TV from MicroEmissive Displays
  • PSP games console from Sony
  • ROKR E1 mobile phone from Motorola
  • The Sony Reader paperback-sized e-book
Analog Devices