Allied Electronics & Automation, DesignSpark, OKdo, and Synovos to spearhead innovation, startup incubation, and technology demonstration at new Lake Walk facility
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2021
Bryan-College Station, TX
Electrocomponents plc announced today a new partnership that will establish the company’s first innovation hub and customer demonstration center in North America. The partnership with Lake Walk in Bryan-College Station, Texas, is a key part of Electrocomponents’ global innovation and customer engage-ment strategy and will include outfitting of 8,000 square feet of custom collaboration, lab and demonstration space staffed by a dedicated onsite team of experts from the company’s Allied Electronics & Automation, DesignSpark, OKdo, and Synovos brands.
The new facility will offer unique access to tools, resources, expertise, products, and support for designers, engineers, inventors, and start-ups, as well as the company’s existing customers and suppliers. In addition, it will provide unique prototyping facilities onsite for start-ups and subject matter experts to use, along with consulting services to aid in testing, development, and launching of new products and services.
“We are very excited to partner with Lake Walk on this truly innovative facility – our first in North America. We’ve long had DesignSpark, our virtual design engineering community, and platform, and this partnership will now add a corresponding fully connected physical space to help innovators and engineers create and improve the next generation of technology,” said Mike Bray, Vice President of Innovation and DesignSpark for Electrocomponents.
“Lake Walk is centrally located close to Texas’ most innovative and influential cities, as well as to Texas A&M University. This positioning represents an optimal location where innovation can be brought to life, fueling our purpose of Making Amazing Happen for a Better World,” said Ken Bradley, President of Fort Worth-based Allied Electronics & Automation.
The partnership between Electrocomponents and Lake Walk includes naming rights for the facility formerly known as the Lake Walk Innovation Center, which will now be named the DesignSpark Innovation Center. To optimize the new North America facility, Electrocomponents will leverage best practices and lessons learned from its work with similar innovation labs in Europe.
“We acquired this building and started the Innovation Center with just this purpose in mind, to create a meaningful place of global impact at the intersection of technology and community,” said Spencer Clements of Traditions Acquisition Partnership, the General Partner of the Center. “The DesignSpark Innovation Center is the perfect name and reflects not only a key brand within Electrocomponents but also the culture of creativity that emanates from all of Lake Walk. We are grateful for Electrocomponents’ vision and look forward to working with this leading-edge enterprise as we continue to develop Lake Walk as a place for best-in-class companies, ideas, and talent.”
The company will be hiring additional staff for the DesignSpark Innovation Center in the coming months, and more information about these openings, when they become active, can be found at https://www.alliedelec.com/careers/.
“We at the city of Bryan are delighted to welcome Electrocomponents, especially since their presence at the DesignSpark Innovation Center will mark their first innovation hub in North America,” said Andrew Nelson, Mayor of the City of Bryan. “The addition of their multiple brands to the growing entrepreneurial community and international partnerships brings more emerging technologies and capital benefitting Texas A&M and Bryan-College Station.”
Supplemental imagery is available for download here.
About Electrocomponents
Electrocomponents plc is a global omni-channel provider of product and service solutions for designers, builders, and maintainers of industrial equipment and operations. With operations in 32 countries, we trade through multiple channels and ship nearly 60,000 parcels a day. We support customers across the product life cycle, whether via innovation and technical support at the design phase, improving time to market and productivity at the build phase, or reducing purchasing costs and optimizing inventory in the maintenance phase. We offer our customers tailored product and service propositions that are essential for the successful operation of their businesses and help them save time and money. Electrocomponents plc has nine operating brands: RS Components, Allied Electronics & Automation, RS PRO, OKdo, DesignSpark, IESA, Synovos, Needlers, and Liscombe.
About Lake Walk
Lake Walk is a 350-acre commercial development located in Bryan/College Station, TX home to industry leading companies in biologics, vaccine manufacturing, and managed wireless services. In addition to facilitating global tech enterprises and local start-ups, Lake Walk is a comfortably upscale, thoughtful but lively collection of regional dining, hospitality, retail, and wellness amenities. Lake Walk features residential offerings, a waterfront park on Lake Atlas, and events and programming designed to inspire. Life is here at Lake Walk.
About Allied Electronics & Automation
Allied Electronics & Automation is an omni-channel authorized distributor of industrial automation and control solutions, electronic components, and maintenance products from more than 550 world-class suppliers. With a local presence throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico, a focus on digital customer experience, and more than 3.5 million parts available for purchase online, engineers, designers, maintainers, and purchasers trust Allied to provide a wide range of solutions across the entire product life-cycle. Allied recently doubled the capacity of its Fort Worth distribution center and provides online customers with tens of thousands of 360-degree high-resolution images, more than 1.1 million up-to-date product datasheets, and expert advice on a wide range of topics.
About DesignSpark
DesignSpark is Electrocomponents’ online design community and resource center for makers, students, and design engineers. It was launched in 2010 to provide design engineers and students around the globe with a comprehensive range of free-of-charge software design tools, technical data, and development resources. DesignSpark also provides a platform for members to share their projects and opinions and connect with other engineers and students.
About OKdo
OKdo is a global technology company, an operating brand of Electrocomponents plc which is disrupting single-board computer (SBC) and IoT segments. Offering a unique combination of hardware, software, development support, manufacturing services, and community projects, it is the world’s first business uniquely focused on meeting the rapidly evolving needs of SBC and IoT customers, from makers and entrepreneurs to industrial designers, educators, and resellers.
About Synovos
Synovos provides technology-driven, comprehensive MRO supply chain management services, asset services, and technology to drive increased productivity, profitability, and global competitiveness for our clients.
Media Inquiries
Karen Gavenda
Allied Electronics & Automation
[email protected]
