2024 LEAP Awards now open for nominations

The LEAP Awards (Leadership in Engineering Achievement Program) celebrates the most innovative and forward-thinking products serving the design engineering space. This dynamic competition honors the most innovative engineered products/components across several of our flagship brands: Design World, Fluid Power World, EE World, and Engineering.com.

Submissions for the 2024 LEAP Awards program are being accepted starting today, April 25, 2024, at this site.

This year’s 12 categories are:

Advanced materials
Computer hardware
Connectivity
Embedded computing
Fluid power
Industrial automation
Mechanical
Motion control
Power electronics
Software
Switches & sensors, and
Test & measurement.

Entries submitted must be new products that are commercially available in the United States and have been released since January 1, 2023 and not previously entered in the LEAP Awards. If the product is a derivation of a past component, the updates made to the design and function must be significant. All submissions become the property of WTWH Media LLC, and the company reserves the right to publish information in any of its media outlets. The final entry deadline is July 18, 2024 — and the entry fee is $495.

Best submissions will include or address the following:

• A basic description of the product in 250 words.
• High-resolution (300 dpi) product photo and companion data sheet.
• A list of ideal applications for the product.
• Details on any patents.
• Description of the product’s purpose. What problem does it solve? How does it improve on older products/what it evolved from? How is it different from competitive products? What advantages does it have?
• Information on the development process. Was any type of customer input or Beta testing involved? Were there technical innovations involved in developing the product?
• Outline how an engineer is going to advance their machinery, equipment or product designs as a result of this component or product. What kind of value does it provide to the end user or consumer? How much does this product change the industry or set itself as a benchmark?

CATEGORY DESCRIPTIONS

Design World

Advanced materials: Enter innovative materials here that improve designs or increase design flexibility for engineers. This category also includes lubricants and additive materials.

Industrial automation: This category is for components and services that execute or prompt system-level functions and impart machines with advanced networking and connectivity; power management; safety; transmission and management of system and operation-level information; and other IoT capabilities. For motors, we recommend this automation category if the motor’s leading features are associated with ease of integration (with controls and drives); sophistication in flexibility (in terms of acceptable inputs and outputs); or support of centralized, decentralized, and distributed control.

Mechanical: This category includes bearings, gears, pulleys, clutches, brakes, sprockets, and other power-transmission components. We recommend entering motors in this category if their innovative features are mechanical in nature — pertaining to integrated gearing or sealing; advanced housing geometry or materials; compactness or specialization to enable creative installations; or other design features aimed at boosting efficiency, ruggedness, and serviceability. This category also includes fastener products used specifically to join parts together in a system — ultrasonic welding technology, adhesives, fasteners, hinges, springs, sockets, and washers.

Motion control: This category is for components that improve moving machine axes. Enter intelligent electronic components such as controllers, encoders, drives, stepper drives, servo drives, and other components for which electronic control is integral to their operation.

Switches & sensors: Entries in this category should be feedback devices including mechanical switches and photoelectric, proximity, reel, and hall-effect sensors. Submissions can include devices for pressure, speed, temperature, and vibration sensing, vision systems, and edge devices.

Engineering.com

Computer hardware: This category is for computer systems, components, or peripheral accessories applicable to engineering workflows, as well as VR/AR/MR hardware. Entries can include laptops, desktops, servers, tablets, processors, input devices, monitors, and other professional computing products.

Software: Submissions here should be for mechanical and architectural design automation software. Appropriate entries include CAD, CAM, simulation, and additive manufacturing software.

Fluid Power World

Fluid power: This category focuses on hydraulic and pneumatic motion control components and subsystems including but not limited to pumps, motors, cylinders, valves, hose assemblies, sensing technologies, HPUs, accumulators, filtration and sealing technologies, air compressors, FRLs, vacuum grippers, and suction cups. Please do not enter process control componentry.

EE World

Connectivity: In this category, enter interconnect technologies ranging from wire, cable, and connectors. Cables: Industrial motion control cables, fiber optic cables, data, power, and networking designs. Connectors: ranging from board-level designs to rugged industrial round, rectangular plug, and receptacle types. It also includes cable assemblies, harnesses, and protection devices such as grommets, cable glands, etc.

Embedded computing: This category is for microcontrollers (MCUs) or microprocessors (MPUs) or other custom designed chips and supporting software in ROM (Read Only Memory) that comprise embedded computing. Also included are development tools and operating systems, computer boards, systems, and components, storage and wired and wireless connectivity, including IoT and IIoT.

Power electronics: In this category, enter AC-DC, DC-DC power supplies, transistors and any other power electronic circuits, components or assemblies used in power electronics, including battery and battery management.

Test & measurement: This category is for test and measurement equipment as typically used by design and development engineers engaged in product design and development. Do not enter equipment typically found only on production and assembly lines or that used outside of engineering settings.