Avnet Express' Drive for Innovation Exclusive Sponsor of the DESIGN West University Grant Program

PHOENIX and SAN FRANCISCO, March 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Drive for Innovation – a year-long, cross-country road trip created to celebrate electronics innovation, is making a stop at DESIGN West and bringing 20 students along for the ride. The University Grant Program, sponsored by Avnet Express, the e-Commerce engine of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT) and UBM Electronics, the daily source of essential business and technical information for the electronics industry's decision makers, will cover the attendance cost for students from San Jose State University's College of Engineering Mechatronics to attend DESIGN West, March 26-29, 2012 at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, CA.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120326/SF75944LOGO)

DESIGN West builds on the rich engineering education foundation of the well-established Embedded Systems Conference (ESC), which is now combined with popular electronic design summits (Android Summit, Black Hat Summit, DesignMED, Multicore DevCon, EDN's Designing with LEDs, Sensors in Design) in one venue for the first time.  The DESIGN West University Grant Program has been developed to provide college and graduate school professors with a mentorship opportunity for their engineering students to attend the conference program at UBM Electronics events.  The grant will cover conference registration fees; plenary sessions; breaks; lunch; full access to the exhibition floor; technology demonstrations; and show floor receptions.   

"The University Grant program is an important initiative – it provides an opportunity for the next-generation of design engineers to attend DESIGN West, which ensures continued growth and vitality of our industry," said Brian Fuller, editorial lead, Drive for Innovation. "The Drive for Innovation is focused on uncovering innovation in the electronics industry. By sponsoring this program Avnet Express continues to inspire future technologists and engineering rising stars."

"Throughout the past year, the Avnet Express Drive for Innovation has crossed the U.S. exposing the very best of American ingenuity," said Ian Basey, vice president, Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas. "As we continue this program, the University Grant will expose young engineers to technology experts, mentors and leaders in our industry, to hopefully keep fueling the future of innovation."

The Electrical Engineering Department at San Jose State University is a leading provider of engineering talent to Silicon Valley's high-tech industry. Ranked by US News and World Report among the best BS/MS universities in the country, the Electrical Engineering Department provides more EE graduates to this region than any other college or university in the nation. Most of its EE graduates are employed in diverse areas of hi-tech engineering, including internet technologies, semiconductor electronics, analog and digital systems and wireless communication technologies.

"We are honored that UBM Electronics and Avnet Express are supporting our students to attend DESIGN West," said Burford J. Furman, professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, San Jose State University. "The conference is an outstanding forum for our students -- who are working toward engineering degrees -- to learn and network with industry leaders.  I am confident that this opportunity will help inspire innovation in our students as they progress through their course of study and begin to work in the electronics and related industries."

About the Drive for Innovation Program:

The Drive for Innovation program is sponsored by Avnet Express, the e-Commerce engine for Avnet Electronics Marketing, an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT).  Since July 2011, the Chevrolet Volt has been making periodic stops throughout the journey, where Fuller, the driver of the Chevrolet Volt, has been interviewing engineers, entrepreneurs, innovators and students, and blogging and posting video updates about his experiences.  The trip details the electronic innovations behind the Chevrolet Volt and the future of plug-in electric cars.  The multi-faceted program is anchored by a website that features content from the road trip, a drive tracker and an interactive map that highlights the tour as well as games and prizes to fuel community engagement.

Avnet Express gives design engineers and purchasing professionals online access to the world's largest catalog of electronic component products, which tops five million parts. Avnet Express offers parametric searching capabilities and the ability to upload a bill of materials (BOM) for easier sourcing of products and a consistent global platform of localized content. The site can be accessed in nine languages and 13 currencies.

Check www.driveforinnovation.com for upcoming locations and to sign up to follow the stories and request that the Volt pull into your town or city for a visit.  To learn more about Avnet Express, visit avnetexpress.com.  To follow the "Drive for Innovation" and the Chevrolet Volt as it travels across the United States, visit www.driveforinnovation.com.  Follow the "Drive for Innovation" on Facebook and Twitter.

About DESIGN (www.ubmdesign.com)

Held in key strategic technology development locations worldwide, UBM Electronics' DESIGN events are the global electronics industry's leading gatherings. With cutting edge product demonstrations, visionary speeches and hundreds of essential technical training classes and accreditation opportunities, DESIGN is the ideal venue for the electronics engineering community to learn, collaborate and recognize excellence. UBM Electronics' DESIGN events cater to the extremely technical, higher-learning needs of the world's top engineers while providing an unprecedented forum for the examination of the industry's pressing business challenges. In addition, DESIGN West celebrates decades of unique local electronics industry culture, innovation and Silicon Valley's significant contributions to the global technology industry.

About Avnet Electronics Marketing

Avnet Electronics Marketing is an operating group of Phoenix-based Avnet, Inc. that serves electronic original equipment manufacturers (EOEMs) and electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers in more than 70 countries, distributing electronic components from leading manufacturers and providing associated design-chain and supply-chain services. The group's website is located at www.em.avnet.com.

About Avnet, Inc.

Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), a Fortune 500 company, is one of the largest distributors of electronic components, computer products and embedded technology serving customers in more than 70 countries worldwide. Avnet accelerates its partners' success by connecting the world's leading technology suppliers with a broad base of more than 100,000 customers by providing cost-effective, value-added services and solutions. For the fiscal year ended July 2, 2011, Avnet generated revenue of $26.5 billion. For more information, visit www.avnet.com.

About UBM Electronics

UBM Electronics is the global leader in media and marketing solutions for the electronics industry.  UBM Electronics delivers results for the key influencers and decision makers involved in the design, development and commercialization of technology through its market leading brands, peer communities and professional education services.  More than 1.7 million engineering professionals engage with UBM Electronics brands which include EE Times, EDN, Design News, Test & Measurement World, TechOnline, EBN, Datasheets.com, Designlines and Embedded.com across the globe to accelerate technology sales. The international electronics community gathers at UBM Electronics market leading events such as the Embedded Systems Conferences, DesignCon and ARM Technology Conference to share, learn, discuss, and advance the critical issues and challenges facing the electronics industry. Additionally, UBM Electronics provides end-to-end services ranging from next-generation marketing, integrated media, custom solutions and research.  UBM Electronics is part of UBM (UBM.L) a global provider of media and information services for professional B2B communities and markets.

For more information on UBM Electronics please contact:
Felicia Hamerman, Vice President, Marketing
T: 516.562.5652, E: felicia.hamerman@ubm.com

For more information on Avnet Express please contact:
Bethany Helvie, Public Relations, Avnet Electronics Marketing
T: 480.643.7183, E: bethany.helvie@avnet.com

SOURCE UBM Electronics