DALLAS & FORT WORTH, Texas — (BUSINESS WIRE) — March 24, 2015 — Mouser Electronics, Inc., the global authorized distributor with the newest semiconductors and electronic components, is partnering with celebrity engineer Grant Imahara to call on engineers of all levels to collaborate with him to provide creative ideas and solve real-world problems using his Spider-Bot as part of the next Robotics Empowering Innovation Challenge. This second challenge is a continuation of Mouser and Imahara’s journey with the engineering community to Empower Innovation Together™, where engineers can engage with Grant Imahara through a variety of topics and series of challenges that question and defy innovation in the pursuit of new ideas.

The Robotics Empowering Innovation Challenge is the second in a series of different challenges on a variety of engineering topics. This time, Grant is asking engineers to solve a problem using his robot known as “The Spider.” The challenge is to creatively describe what to attach or add on to enhance Grant’s existing Spider-Bot to solve a real-world problem and why that particular problem should be solved. Once submitted online through Mouser.com, entrants are encouraged to share their idea with their friends through social media channels to help in gaining votes. To vote, simply go to the Empowering Innovation Challenge webpage, click and scroll through the list of ideas, and pick which one you think deserves the top honors. It’s as simple as entering your email and hitting the vote button. The top three ideas with the most votes will qualify for a prize. With less than a month remaining, the race is on for the engineering community to share their ideas online, let the public vote and let genius prevail.

The first 200 entrants of the Robotics Challenge will receive a “Letting My Genius Prevail™” T-Shirt. Grant, familiar to many through the Mythbusters television series, will select the Grand Prize winner. The Grand Prize winner will also receive signed Grant memorabilia.

For over 20 years, Grant’s passion has been in robotics, and it’s apparent in his Spider-Bot design. Now he’s looking to engineers of all levels to collaborate with him to help solve real-world problems using “The Spider,” and encourages everyone to go online, share their ideas and invite their friends to do the same.

“This challenge, similar to the first Robotics Challenge, is a great opportunity for engineers to prove their genius and earn those bragging rights…again,” said Grant Imahara. “With so many great ideas from the first robotics challenge, I’m really looking forward to what our engineering community has in store for my Spider-Bot this time around.”

The Robotics Empowering Innovation Challenge is just another way that Mouser is connecting to engineers through innovation and creativity that defines engineering design.

“We’re so thrilled to be working with Grant on this Empowering Innovation Together campaign,” said Glenn Smith, Mouser President and CEO. “It’s a great partnership, because Mouser provides the newest products and technologies, while Grant provides the inspiration and engineering expertise – it’s a perfect pairing, and so far, the response has been phenomenal.”

The Empowering Innovation Together campaign is sponsored by Platinum Program Partner Texas Instruments. Also joining in the sponsorship are Molex and Panasonic as Diamond-Level partners.

Well known in the engineering community, Grant Imahara has paired his engineering expertise with a Hollywood TV and film career. In addition to his roles on Mythbusters and Battlebots, Grant has worked on many famous robotic characters – including R2-D2 in the Star Wars prequels, The Late Late Show’s Craig Ferguson robot skeleton sidekick – Geoff Peterson, and the Energizer Bunny. He joins the Mouser team as a collaborator and spokesperson who shares Mouser’s passion to positively influence and support innovative design. To learn more about Grant Imahara, the Empowering Innovation Together campaign and Mouser partnership, visit www.mouser.com/empoweringinnovation.

With its broad product line and unsurpassed customer service, Mouser caters to design engineers and buyers by delivering What’s Next in advanced technologies. Mouser offers customers 20 global support locations and stocks the world’s widest selection of the latest semiconductors and electronic components for the newest design projects. Mouser Electronics’ website is updated many times per day and searches more than 10 million products to locate over 4 million orderable part numbers available for easy online purchase. Mouser.com also houses an industry-first interactive catalog, data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, technical design information, and engineering tools.

About Mouser Electronics

Mouser Electronics, a subsidiary of TTI, Inc., is part of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway family of companies. Mouser is an award-winning, authorized semiconductor and electronic component distributor, focused on the rapid introduction of new products and technologies to electronic design engineers and buyers. Mouser.com features more than 4 million products online from more than 500 manufacturers. Mouser publishes multiple catalogs per year providing designers with up-to-date data on the components now available for the next generation of electronic devices. Mouser ships globally to over 500,000 customers in 170 countries from its 492,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility south of Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit http://www.mouser.com.

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