Celebrating UK success

Composites UK will once again be sponsoring the Composites Engineering Show. Association Secretary, Dr Sue Halliwell tells Mike Richardson about the beneficial effects the organisation’s involvement will have on the industry. Tasked with the key objectives of developing and strengthening the UK composites industry and promoting composites to the wider community, The Composites Engineering Show provides an ideal platform to further consolidate Composites UK’s lead role as a provider and disseminator of knowledge and advice throughout the UK’s composite sector. During the event, Composites UK will be sponsoring the industry market intelligence briefing sessions, organising industry application forums over the two days, showcasing UK academic excellence and hosting a ‘Composites 101’ tutorial session in collaboration with the Composites Skills Alliance. It will also be presenting at the Aerospace, Automotive and Energy engineering forums. An exciting addition to this year’s proceedings is the Composites UK Industry Awards dinner being held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Wednesday 7^th November. Industry achievements will be celebrated at this sell-out event with winners being showcased in a special area on the exhibition show floor. “The Composites Engineering Show is an ideal opportunity to showcase the UK’s composites industry,” states Dr Halliwell. She is excited about the 2012 show and what it has on offer. “There have been major developments in the UK composites industry over the last 12 months and there are exciting projects in the pipeline. This show is an ideal platform to showcase UK potential and, in line with the industry, it goes from strength to strength each year.” The show plays a vital role in aiding the development of support frameworks that pull companies and resources together. Organisations like Composites UK are vital in providing the landscape within which the industry is developing. How well does this show align with the organisation’s objectives? “This show is crucial because our whole ethos is about supporting the UK industry and the capabilities it has on offer. It focuses on bringing the industry together, improving collaborative working and strengthening the supply chain in this country, thus enabling manufacture on home ground rather than contracting it overseas. At the 2011 show we introduced the concept of the Hub, a collaborative working between Composites UK, the Composites Skills Alliance and the National Composites Centre to better support the composites community, and at the 2012 show we will be reporting the progress on this. “This year we’ve increased our involvement in the dissemination activities of the event. We are organising technical forum sessions that focus on innovations in processing technologies and material developments to offer opportunities for companies to look beyond what they currently do, how they could improve efficiency of processes, look at where their current markets lie and where other opportunities exist. In addition we have a session dedicated to showcasing academic excellence with presentations and posters from leading UK universities. Each day there will be an industry briefing session that provides a snapshot of where the industry currently is, recent developments and future potential. “We’re seeing a strong appetite for this event. It is for this reason that we are aligning our annual Industry Innovation Awards with the show, creating a true sense of celebrating UK success. Naturally we’ll be maximising our opportunities from this show by working closely with the show organisers and other National bodies to showcase our UK presence.” www.compositesuk.co.uk