1. DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTEST: EE Times' Annual Creativity in Electronics (ACE) Awards will recognize outstanding achievements of people, products and companies that show leadership in the electronics industry.

4. CATEGORIES AND CRITERIA: One winner will be selected in each of the following categories.

Design Team of the Year:

The winner will be selected based on the creative, efficient and inspiring project management capabilities of the team, which led to a significant contribution to the furtherance of technology, including:
• The likelihood that the technology will make a significant impact in some sector of the electronic systems market.
• A novel and engaging way in which the technology delivers features.
• Techniques which led to faster design time and time to market.
• Exceptional creativity and persistence demonstrated by the team in the face of technical or business hurdles.
Innovator of the Year: The winner will be selected based on the leadership, creativity and out-of-the-box thinking brought to technology, a product or a business, including:
• Success in the initial phase of a technology, product or business.
• The likelihood that a technology, product or business will have a significant impact in some sector of the electronics market.
• Persistence shown in the face of technical, business and/or cultural hurdles.
The winner may be a researcher, engineer, manager, executive, venture capitalist or educator.

Innovator of the Year:

The winner will be selected based on the leadership, creativity and out-of-the-box thinking brought to technology, a product or a business, including:
• Success in the initial phase of a technology, product or business.
• The likelihood that a technology, product or business will have a significant impact in some sector of the electronics market.
• Persistence shown in the face of technical, business and/or cultural hurdles.
The winner may be a researcher, engineer, manager, executive, venture capitalist or educator.

Executive of the Year:

The winner will be selected based on the leadership, and technological and fiscal vision brought to a company, or business during a calendar year, including:
• Outstanding growth in business, patents, alliances or design wins.
• The ability to demonstrate success in the marketplace or the likelihood that the business will have a significant impact in some sector of the electronics market.
• Persistence shown in the face of technical, business and/or cultural hurdles.

Startup Company of the Year:

The winner will be selected based on its
demonstration of excellence in business and/or technology development, and the potential to become a technical or market leader in the global electronics industry, including:
• The development of an innovative business model that has the potential to cause disruptive change in a key technology or product area.
• The assembly of a team of "star" engineers and key executives who are putting in place new business ideas and technology development practices that challenge current and existing management wisdom in the electronics industry.
• The ability to overcome unexpected challenges and setbacks in key business/technology processes in areas such as: financing and capitalization, human resources, engineering development and design, manufacturing, marketing, sales and/or distribution.
• The ability to enter into and manage strategic partnerships that complement the company's own strengths in key business and technology areas.
• The ability to lead and succeed in the domestic and global electronics market by delivering innovative engineering-based electronics products or solutions.
This category is open only to venture capital (or pre-IPO financed) startup electronics manufacturing (device or system) companies in business for less than three years.

Company of the Year

The winner will be selected based on its professionalism, staff development and retention, customer focus, technical excellence and profitable growth, including:
• The ability to exceed annual financial business goals and other market metrics set by management and/or third-party analysts for year-to-year performance.
• Advancement in rank or market order to surpass its competitors and gain a significant new industry, product or technology leadership position recognized by one or more independent industry observers.
• Introduction of a break-though product and/or technology that has the potential to alter the price/performance curve in a key product or technology area in electronics.
• A novel business or management practice that makes a significant contribution to improving the environment and/or quality of life for a region or country.
• Excellence and leadership in business practices and management in some or all of the following areas: capitalization and financing, research & development, hardware and/or software design, product design, device or system manufacturing, human resources management, marketing, PR and media relations, sales, and distribution.

Most Promising New Technology:

The winner will be a compelling electronic component or enabling technology, such as software, selected based on its outstanding technical design, potential for market impact and demonstrated leadership in its area, including:
• The ability to provide systems engineers with new and compelling capabilities and/or the delivery of existing features in a novel and engaging way.
• The creation of significant savings in precious resources such as design time, system cost, space or power.
• The incorporation of new electronics concepts/approaches or combination of existing concepts/approaches in a novel manner.
• The likelihood that the technology will have a significant impact in some sector of the electronic systems market.
• The establishment of a new technology, market or product category or direction that others are likely to follow.
• Creativity and persistence in the face of technical or business hurdles encountered in delivering the technology.

Most Promising Renewable Energy Award

This award will go to the company that is closest to deploying renewable energy sources that offer the quickest return on investment and lower carbon footprint.

Educator of the Year:

The award goes to an individual who brought leadership, creativity, and inspiration to students in an engineering or science curriculum in college or secondary schools.

Student of the Year:

The award goes to an individual whose discipline, hard work and academic success are considered hallmarks for other engineering or science students.

5. JUDGING: A panel of EE Times editors will narrow down the entries to five (5) finalists in each category, based on the criteria set forth above. Winners will be determined from among the finalists by a panel of independent judges selected by TechInsights a division of United Business Media. Judging will take place from February 8, 2010 through February 18, 2010, and winner will be announced at ESC Silicon Valley. The judges' decisions are final.

6. AWARDS: Awards will be presented and winning companies and individuals will be honored at ESC Silicon Valley April 26-29, 2010. Award winners will be posted on the EE Times website at www.eetimes.com/ace on Friday, April 30, 2010. In addition to the title, winners will receive a crystal statuette (value under $500) and listed in the May, 2010 issue of EE Times. (Expenses of attending the Conference and Awards ceremony will be the responsibility of the winners.) You do not need to be present at the Awards dinner to win. No prior announcement or information on winners will be provided. For the name of the finalists and winners, available after April 29, 2010, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to:
Dawn Walton
267 Sea Cliff Avenue
Suite #3
Sea Cliff, NY 11579

7. CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION: By entering, participants (i) agree to be bound by these Official Rules and (ii) grant TechInsights a division of United Business Media a royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide license to use and publicly display their entries for all advertising and marketing purposes, including promoting its web sites, products and services. Accordingly, no confidential information should be included in any entry. Submissions remain the property of the entrants; however, by entering, entrants consent to the use of their name and likeness for advertising, promotional and/or marketing purposes without additional compensation. (A Tennessee resident consents to the use of his name and likeness only if such Tennessee resident expressly consents to such use.) By entering, participants release and hold harmless TechInsights a division of United Business Media, its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, employees and agents from any and all liability or injuries, loss or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with participation in this contest. TechInsights a division of United Business Media is not responsible for incorrect or inaccurate entry of information including, but not limited to technical malfunctions, human error, lost/delayed data transmission, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, line failures of any telephone network, computer equipment, software or any combination thereof, entry materials that have been tampered with, or mail in entries that are illegible, late, lost, damaged, postage due or misdirected. TechInsights a division of United Business Media is not responsible for any injury or damage to participants' or any other person's computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading any material in this promotion. Entries that have been tampered with or altered are void. TechInsights Technology LLC reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend this promotion if it becomes technically corrupted or if for any reason the Internet portion of the program is not capable of running as planned, including infections by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond the control of TechInsights a division of United Business Media that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this promotion.

This promotion shall be governed by the laws of the United States