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October 1, 2012 by BK

Pedal4Innovation Design Contest Has Started

SILICA Pedal4Innovation Board CataloguePedal4Innovation (P4I) is back. Now it is time to give the floor to the young, brilliant and motivated future electronic engineers in the UK. This stage is all about you showing us the skills you have amassed throughout you studying electronic engineering. And the prize is in the form of three scholarships, each worth £3000.

SILICA and its partners have gathered a pretty large mass of design boards for this contest. Participants are asked to visit www.silica.com/pedal4innovation, read the contest’s rules of engagement and download the Board Catalog.  All the boards we have to give are described there, so it should be easy for you to figure out which boards you will need to work with. Please keep in mind the following, though:

  • Choose only up to 3 development boards.
  • The boards are with a limited amount available. So, we will be sending them out on a first-come-first-serve basis.
  • Be sure to be mentioning the name of the boards you choose as it is cited in the P4I board catalog.

Registrations will be accepted between today October 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012. Designs can be submitted until March 31, 2013. And the winners will be announced in mid April, 2013.

For those that have questions we have created a Q&A section in our Designers’ Community. Feel free to post there or to browse through many of the posts in other categories.

News and updates on the contest will be shared in real time at our Twitter and Facebook channels, so do connect!

Last but not least, Good Luck to everyone and we very much look forward to see your submissions!

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June 1, 2012 by BK

On Your Donations

Do you remember Laurence and Pete mentioning in their initial video they were aiming at raising 40,000EUR for charity and scholarships?…

Well, Pedal4Innovation did better than that. The the raised funds are almost 45,000EUR or 36,000GBP. The numbers are a bit “give-or-take”, mainly because funds were raised in both currencies. Besides, with the Euro nowadays the exchange rate is a bit tricky.

 

We changed our targets a few times. The response was so great that we continuously tried to increase the bar and aim for more.

Here is the breakdown by all three directions we initially set foot to take:

The truth is that the JustGiving donation pages will remain active online for a while. It seems there are still people willing to make a donation. Wonderful, isn’t it?

Pedal4Innovation’s team would like to express their gratitude towards every person, colleague, organization, family, friend and person making a donation, supporting and helping us! Without you, Pedal4Innovation would have been just a personal cycling challenge. Now, it is a statement of compassion and care! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU also for all the wonderful encouragements you posted on our JustGiving pages, Facebook and Twitter! All these amazing and supportive emails, phone calls and messages – THANK YOU for them as well!

SPECIAL THANKS go to each and every one of our industry partners – the guys that showed yet again that innovation is something we should all aim at and having a big heart can fuel one’s tank and take him/her a long way!

Here is to Pam, Lee, Andy and James – THANK YOU, lady and gents! You are rock stars!

And, last but not least, a gigantic THANK YOU to Laurence, Pete, Kev, Nige, Sam, Malcolm, Martyn, Anthony and Beky! You are fabulous and inspiring Jedi cyclists!

Pedal4Innovation continues with phase two – the Student Contest! Stay tuned on Twitter, Facebook and this website!

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May 28, 2012 by BK

On Day Five

We knew all along that Day 5 was the last one on our Pedal4Innovation cycling part. But some how we didn’t want to leave it at that. We just had so much fun…

We started off at our Avnet Aylesbury office where everyone made everything possible to see us off in great mood and feeling appreciated. It was terrific! Thank you, Avnet Aylesbury!

There we were also joined by Will and Paul from Microchip, who pedaled the whole way to the final at Avnet House Stevenage later that day! Thank you, Will & Paul! Thank you, Microchip!

Then we head of to our partners at Neesham to pick up the only lady in the team – Beky Cann (Neesham’s Account Director). Neesham has been instrumental in spreading the word out that there is Pedal4Innovation and we cycle for charity and UK’s next generation of electronic engineers.  Thank you, Neesham! Thank you, Beky!

Our next stop was University of Hertfordshire where we introduced the idea behind Pedal4Innovation and the coming student competition. Pretty exciting, indeed! Thank you, Hertfodshire Uni!

Although we wanted to prolong the ned of our cycling challenge, we soon found ourselves at the finish line in Avnet House in Stevenage. And what a splendid welcome it was!!! Everyone was out in the sun! There were banner, clappers, people and smiles everywhere. Everyone made everything possible for the team to feel appreciated, supported and proud of. Oh, and there was a cake (among other delicious food, that is)! Anyways, the pictures we published in the previous post, speak loud enough. Thank you, Avnet Stevenage!!!

The team was tired, so just before the afternoon was over we headed to our home for a well deserved rest. But as it turns out, the cycling is not over and we are all pretty hyped on the idea to do it again.

What a day!

 

 

 

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May 24, 2012 by BK

On Day Four

One would think that after a 106 miles cycling the previous day, an 80 miles one would be a walk in the park… Well, today offered not only heat, but also some steep climbs that yet again tested the endurance of the Pedal4Innovation’s cyclists.

We started off with a wonderful send off at Avnet’s Newbury office and headed down to Maxim’s office to meet the nice people there and offer gratitude for all their support. We were met there by nothing but huge smiles and some ice cream. Thank you, Maxim!

Then we headed to Microchip’s office where we were met by a cheering crowd and a huge cheque for both our supported charities and the student contest we will hold after the summer. Thank you, Microchip!

Avnet’s office in Maidenhead was the next leg. We completed it in time, just as planned, and were met by a cheerful crowd ready to make us feel at home. Thank you, Avnet Maidenhead!

From there we cycled to STMicroelectronics to meet yet another very supporting crowd and a tons of different kind of cakes. Superb! Thank you, STMicroelectronics! Special thanks go to Sam Lamb, who is part of P4I caravan and one of The Team.

Next partner in Pedal4Innovation on the route was Renesas. Although the sun was really strong, we all had a few laughs and more ice cream. Thank you for all the support, Renesas! Hats off to Kevin McArthur and Nigel Cheetham, both jedi cyclist in P4I!

The last partner, before headed for the final leg today, was Freescale. We managed to get there through the steep climbs and serious traffic just in time. Thank you, Freescale!

Just about when the sun rays were getting weaker we arrived ata our Avnet Aylesbury office. Again tons of smiles and great support. Thank you, Avnet Aylesbury!

Now we are taking a rest before we hit the road again for our final day of cycling (what a pitty!). Final destination is Avnet House at Stevenage. There we are to end things with a bang and have a party.

We are slightly short of reaching our donations target on the JustGiving pages we set for Neuroblastoma Alliance UK and Alzheimer’s Research UK. Give us a hand and donate! You can find the dedicated links to the pages at www.pedal4innovation.silica.com. All you need is a credit card and few British pound to spare for a good cause…

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May 23, 2012 by BK

On Day Three

It has been the longest ride with Pedal4Innovation today – 106 miles give or take. Actually, we have probably topped that with a bit more, considering we got some wrong GPS readings…

First of all, everyone finished the day in a very high spirit and a sense of personal pride. It was not easy and it was a bit of a test. But every single one of our cyclists made it to the end pedalling.

We cycled though a part of England that no tourist hardly ever takes – through wonderful plains, hills and smalll villages with old houses and churches in them. As if one is riding through the Romantic Road in Bavaria or down the small roads in French Provence. Simply beautiful!

We started off at 8:30 am adding one more cyclist – Anthony Middleton from Texas Instruments. And we cycled through from Kenilworth through the Cotswolds down to Swindon, where we made a quick visit at Intel. Then we cycled down to Newbury where we arrived at 6:00 pm – tired, but very happy.

The team spirit is rather high. Thanks to everyone following and supporting us on our Facebook and Twitter channels! Thanks a lot to all these that are donating on Pedal4Innovation’s JustGiving pages to Neuroblastoma Alliance UK and Alzheimer’s Research UK! If you haven’t already, we’d appreciate any help you can give us!

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May 22, 2012 by BK

On Day Two

We have just finished day two and Pedal4Innovation’s caravan is ready to deep dive into some pasta and get the carbs level back up.

The weather continues getting better and better, and the sun is poised to cause a particular tan on the lads. May this weather continue being like this for the rest of the week!

Today it was all about introducing Pedal4Innovation to the future electronic engineers. We started by visitng Staffordshire University where we met with Ian Taylor (Head of Electronics). Then we headed off to Aston University where we were greeted by Kate Sugden and a lot of curious students. Our last stop was at the University of Birmingham with a huge turnout from faculty and students.

It was a wonderful day and everyone is very excited. Tomorrow we head to Newbury passing by a bunch of a partner locations. Stay tuned on Facebook and Twitter for the live coverage!

And don’t forget to donate and support research for Neuroblastoma Alliance Uk and Alzheimer’s Research UK!

Archive

May 21, 2012 by BK

On Day One

Pedal4innovation’s day one is almost over. Nobody is saying”Thanks God!” or anything like it. If you could be at the dinner table right now, you would hear the guys talking over the route they took today, the easy points, the difficult ones and the tiredness they are feeling.

Today we started with the following cyclists:
- Laurence and Pete from SILICA
- Kevin and Nigel from Renesas
- Martin and Malcolm from NXP
- Sam from STMicroelectronics

We started off from Avnet’s office in Bolton. Then we visited University of Manchester where we met Professor Steve Furber and Doctor Steve Temple. We got see a bit of the SpiNNaker project – they are using a million ARM cores to simulate one percent of the human brain. Pretty cool stuff, actually!

Then onto NXP UK headquarters in Hazel Grove, Stockport we were met by Chris Boyce and Magnum ice creams. Very warm welcome, indeed! Thanks, NXP!

Next stop was Avnet’s warehouse in Newcastle-under-Lyme where the bikes were left to rest for the night, and the team set off for a shower and good meal at the hotel.

Lovely weather, amazing people we met at our stops and tons of fun!

Huge thanks to everyone!

Don’t forget to follow Pedal4Innovation on Facebook or Twitter where we cover the cycling live!

And if you haven’t already, give us a hand and donate for Neuroblastoma Alliance UK and Alzheimer’s Research UK!

Archive

May 18, 2012 by BK

Just Before We Start

Pedal4Innovation Founding Fathers Laurence and PeterNext Monday, May 21, 2012 we are set to start cycling. Everyone is super excited – even the guys that pedaling together with Laurence and Pete. One would think that the past few weeks of horrible weather would make them not so looking forward to it. But no, this is definitely not the case.

The weatherman is promising a 16- 17 degrees all week, partly sunny, and a North-East tail wind. Keep your fingers crossed!

 

This weekend it will be all about light training, taking vitamins and prepping mentally for the challenge. The week in front of us will be a challenging one and we are looking forward to see each and every one of our UK employees, suppliers and students that will be present when we arrive at their location.

We know that many of you would be willing to join, but are prevented from doing so. So, we will try to offer you as much information as possible during the challenge. There will be live broadcast s on our Facebook channel and the Twitter profile. We will also have a daily evening blog post wrapping up the developments during the day.  Stay tuned, cross your fingers and support the initiative through donating for the two charities Neuroblastoma Alliance UK and Alzheimer’s Research UK!

Pedal4Innovation T-3 days!!!

Archive

May 18, 2012 by BK

On Avnet Abacus

Avnet AbacusAvnet Abacus, just as Silica, is part of the big Avnet family.

Avnet Abacus is a pan-European distributor of interconnect, passive, electromechanical, power supply and battery products. Their widespread local presence means that customers get the product choice, financial strength, logistics and fulfillment benefits that they would expect from a global distributor, with the personal service and regional presence of a local supplier. To learn more about the Company, you can deep dive in their world at www.avnet-abacus.eu. Read More »

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May 17, 2012 by BK

On Micron

Micron Technologies, Inc.Micron Technology, Inc., is one of the world’s leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions. Through its worldwide operations, Micron manufactures and markets a full range of DRAM, NAND and NOR flash memory, as well as other innovative memory technologies, packaging solutions and semiconductor systems for use in leading-edge computing, consumer, networking, embedded and mobile products.  Read More »

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