Digi-Key Corporation, one of the world''s fastest growing distributors of electronic components, was recently awarded Atmel''s Engineering Support Services award for 2005. A presentation was made at Atmel''s annual sales conference in Las Vegas, NV.

"Digi-Key is very pleased to be the recipient of this award. We identified strengthened technical and engineering support as Digi-Key goals several years ago. This award is an indication that we are making progress," said Mark Larson, Digi-Key''s president and COO.

"Atmel is pleased to recognize Digi-Key for its outstanding support of the engineering community in the sales of Atmel design tools, new products and technical support," said Mike Furman, vice president of distribution at Atmel. "Design engineers know they can count on Atmel design tools being readily available from Digi-Key and supported with technical resources should they be required. The number of engineers supported by Digi-Key and the degree of support was exceptional. Atmel is pleased to award Digi-Key its Engineering Support Services award for 2005."

Digi-Key Corporation serves a worldwide customer base from its single location in Thief River Falls, MN, USA. Founded on the principle of providing its customers with the best possible service, Digi-Key has earned its reputation as a leader among the world''s electronic component distributors. Digi-Key currently offers its customers over 600,000 products from more than 320 of the world''s leading manufacturers.

Atmel Corporation is an industry leader in the design and manufacture of advanced semiconductors, with a focus on microcontrollers, nonvolatile memory, logic, radio frequency (RF) components and sensors.