The Composites Engineering zone at Advanced Engineering UK is one of the annual highlights for the industry in the UK. Ed Hill hears from organiser Easyfairs about what visitors can expect to see at the event amidst the array of other engineering innovations.
Advanced Engineering, the UK’s largest annual gathering of engineering and manufacturing professionals, is set to return again to the NEC, Birmingham on November 2 and 3, 2022. Now in its thirteenth year, the show is expected to attract thousands of attendees from all engineering disciplines and markets.
This year a new development will be a new show zone dedicated to product testing and quality control. The new zone will feature in both Advanced Engineering and Lab Innovations, which will be co-located, giving visitors and exhibitors access to an even wider range of professionals, products and solutions.
After a welcoming reception in 2021, the space and satellite zone will return, uniting the likes of the Midlands Aerospace Alliance, Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence and the Satellite Applications Catapult, who will showcase a range of satellites on their pavilion.
The show will bring together many different areas of engineering – aerospace, marine, automotive, defence, composites, connected manufacturing and more. There will be four forums: Automotive, Composites, Aerospace and Connected Manufacturing, which will each house two days of innovative and ground-breaking talks from industry experts.
Industry insights
Sustainability and innovation will be the focus across all forums, with talks on the circular economy, net zero, levelling up and the supply chain.
At the Composites Forum, visitors can learn more about what digitalisation means for composite manufacturing, the latest innovations in materials and how composites are helping to create a greener, more sustainable future. Composites UK CEO, David Bailey will return along with the National Composites Centre’s chief technology officer, Enrique Garcia. Prodrive Composites and B&M Longworth will also take to the stage.
Visitors to the event will also find Alan Banks, innovations manager at Ford, presenting at the composites forum over both days, covering topics such as the future of the UK’s composite sector and the UK’s automotive materials strategy for a net-zero circular economy. In addition, Composites UK’s annual award dinner will be held on the first evening of the show at the nearby National Motorcycle Museum.
At the Automotive Forum, visitors can meet experts from Siemens, Britishvolt, the Aluminium Federation, the University of Strathclyde, IDTechEx, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover and Xi Engineering, who will cover topics ranging from electrification to the digitalisation of vehicle development.
On the Aerospace Forum, there will be presentations on sustainability, supply chains, digitalisation and automation from easyJet, Rolls-Royce and Airbus. Sustainability and Net Zero are a large concern, especially in aerospace. Advanced Engineering UK will welcome talks from the Aerospace Technology Institute, Nottingham University, ZeroAvia and more, addressing creating a greener industry.
Finally, the Connected Manufacturing Forum will be open on day one with a talk from Stephen Phipson, CEO of Make UK, followed by a day full of sustainability, digitalisation, artificial intelligence and cyber security. Visitors can expect an informative presentation on bridging the physical to the digital world from keynote speaker, Paul Homan, distinguished engineer and CTO at IBM.
On day two, the Forum will wrap up with talks on the supply chain, additive manufacturing, and a presentation on the role of UK manufacturing in levelling up by keynote speaker Bhavina Bharkhada, head of policy and campaigns at Make UK.
On the trail
To further complement this year’s overarching theme of sustainability, Advanced Engineering is introducing a sustainability trail, where exhibitors showcasing an environmentally-friendly product or service will be highlighted in show material and with physical branding on their stand. Alongside this, the innovation trail will showcase the most innovative and pioneering exhibitors for 2022.
The event welcomes back its valued sponsors once again, with Silverstone Technology, GRP Solutions, University of Strathclyde, HP, and PRF Composite Materials headlining this year’s event. In the composites networking area, PRF will showcase a museum of ground-breaking composite products for attendees to see. Associate forum sponsors, Cristex Composite Materials, Ripley Solutions and Composites in Manufacturing’s sister publication Aerospace Manufacturing, will support over 200 hours of CPD-accredited learning, which is free for all visitors and exhibitors.
The Enabling Innovation zone will return once again, giving the UK’s most innovative start-ups the chance to present their business to a panel of industry leading figures. Attendees will have access to representatives from some of the world’s top automotive and aerospace OEMs, courtesy of the show’s co-located Meet the Buyer events. The Meet the Buyer events will be hosted by ADS and the Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT) to help association members and Advanced Engineering exhibitors hold valuable conversations with buyers that are looking for specific solutions and components to fulfil their active projects.
Addressing industry needs
“Advanced Engineering’s supporters are one of the main reasons that we’re able to have such a huge impact on the UK’s engineering and manufacturing sectors,” comments show organiser Easyfairs’ director, Alison Willis. “Some of the world’s key industry associations, such as ADS Group, SMMT, Composites UK, Make UK, UKRI, UK Space Agency, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, GAMBICA, and ALFED among others, have chosen to support Advanced Engineering for years and, because of this, we can ensure that the show addresses the issues that our industry is facing.
Commenting on last year’s event, Rosa Wilkinson, policy director at the High Value Manufacturing Catapult said: “Events like Advanced Engineering are hugely important in stimulating action that will take us towards net zero. One of the things that really strikes me as I walk around the halls is that there are all sorts of ideas and products that companies can harness within their own net zero journey. I’ll bet that some of them came here looking for a particular supplier and they’ll leave with 101 good ideas. There are also people here that they can make contact with that can help them take that idea and make it a reality.”
Ben Fletcher, COO of Make UK said: “Advanced Engineering is absolutely fantastic — the mood around the stands, the atmosphere, the skills, the technology that’s on show is all world class. You walk around and you see companies providing cutting-edge solutions, companies that have some of the best innovations in the world and the way that people are feeding off that really demonstrates that Britain and the sector is back after Covid, and performing very strongly.”
All set to unite the UK’s leading engineering and supply chain professionals to drive and discover innovation, discuss meeting net zero targets and other challenges, and come together to share ideas and best practice, this year’s show will be a must attend event.
To register for the free-to-attend show and secure your ticket, visit the Advanced Engineering website.
