Switzerland ,India –  Swiss cabling specialist R&M has received the iF Product Design Award 2011 for its Cat. 6A module. The panel of judges of the International Forum Design (iF) praised the performance, design and user-friendliness of the new RJ45 connector sockets for data networks. In explaining its choice, the panel said “The clear lines of the design in red and white underscore the message: Swiss quality.” The award was presented on Tuesday at the opening of the CeBIT computer trade fair in Hanover, Germany.

Martin Reichle, CEO at R&M said: “This design award confirms that R&M always offers far more than just a connector.” He went on to say that the Cat. 6A module stood for revolutionary innovation plus good design, top quality, extensive functionality, easy handling and long-lasting use. He referred to the iF Product Design Award as the crowning touch to what has been a unique product advance. He added that the Cat. 6Amodule was beginning to epitomize the R&M brand.

With the Cat. 6A module, R&M launched a newly developed connection solution for RJ45 connectors on the market last year. This was developed for the next bandwidth generation to operate at a data transmission speed of 10 gigabit per second. The module is intended for use in data centers, industry, clinics, banks and offices and in structured cabling systems.

Its red plastic body packs a lot of high tech for twisted-pair copper cabling and high-frequency signal transmission. R&M achieves effective decoupling and shielding with its pyramid-shaped wiring block and separation plates. The typical electromagnetic interference between the twisted pairs — crosstalk — is eliminated almost completely. The connections therefore exhibit good transmission quality and reliability. That is the basis for reliable data transmission and fast response by the servers.

“Our Cat. 6A module even exceeds the requirements of the latest version of the ISO/IEC 11801 standard, making it the ideal component for installing the most modern cabling in transmission class EA,” Regina Good-Engelhardt, Product Manager atR&M noted.

The iF Product Design Award is one of the world’s best-known and oldest design competitions. It is being staged for the 57th time. The panel of international experts picked 993 winners this year from the 2756 submissions. The iF Award applies to the entire life cycle of the product. It gives winners internationally recognized credentials for good design. Design quality is not the only criterion which the panel applies. Craftsmanship and choice of materials, degree of innovation and environmental compatibility, functionality and ergonomics are also considered in the evaluation, as are use visualization and safety, brand value and universal design aspects.