Winning fan

An engineer from Malaysia has won Premier Farnell's Live Edge Electronic Design for the Global Environment challenge.

John Noble's winning design - called MyFan - is a ceiling fan that combines an electronically commutated motor and controller, and an aerodynamically efficient blade design that reduces fan input power by up to 66 per cent of that of a traditional ceiling fan.

It boasts auxiliary output channels that drive up to 20W of integrated LED lighting with up/down lighting modules. The motor construction is totally enclosed and is available with an IP5x environmental rating.

For his efforts, Noble received a cash prize of $50,000 as well as the support to move the design towards production.

The support package, estimated to be worth an additional $50,000, will include the services of an electronic design consultancy that will help develop the design into a prototype, and assist with legal matters, IP registration, marketing and publicity.