Advanced Engineering, the UK’s annual gathering of engineering and manufacturing professionals, is set to open its doors on 1 and 2 November at the NEC, Birmingham.
Now in its 14th year, this year’s show comes with a fresh rebrand, removing the previous show zones from its exhibition floor and introducing a main stage for the event’s forums.
The new layout aims to cross-industry collaboration. The organisers felt that the old layout felt limiting for exhibitors, and that visitors in general walked the entire show floor, regardless of their specific industry. This year, the long-established composite zone will remain, but the automotive, aerospace and connected manufacturing zones will be removed. However, these sectors will still have a strong presence at the event, with the industry-specific forums remaining. There will also be a main, central stage on this year’s floor plan where discussions about key challenges in the industry will be discussed.
Alison Willis, director of Easyfairs, the organiser of Advanced Engineering said: “We spoke to over 200 exhibitors, visitors and speakers to make sure that any changes made were future-proof and reflective of all stakeholders. We realised that many of the issues that our exhibitors and visitors are facing align, no matter what sector they’re from. Take sustainability for example — we wanted to make sure that our floor plan gave attendees the best opportunity of sharing ideas and solutions to challenges like this.
“Advanced Engineering has expanded greatly over the years, starting as a specific aerospace event 14 years ago. 2023 felt like the right time to break down the walls that separated our exhibitors to fully encourage collaboration across industries and to prepare the show for a new era of manufacturing and engineering,” concluded Willis.
To ensure that visitors and exhibitors can still easily find relevant contacts, Advanced Engineering exhibitors will now be categorised by the services, products and solutions offered. They will have the opportunity to highlight all of the sectors they work in, removing any limitations created by the specific show zones. As well as encouraging visitors from the show’s established sectors like aerospace, space, automotive and composites to attend, Advanced Engineering hopes to attracted visitors from newer sectors, like marine, security, rail, energy, sports and leisure, and medical.
Along with the rebrand, Advanced Engineering is also taking steps to make this year’s show more sustainable, with the usual paper-based show guides by a brand an app to provide attendees with details about exhibitors, schedules, speaker programmes and floor plans. Further limiting paper waste, attendees will be guided by digital signposts.
“The increasing demand for sustainable practices is driven by a growing awareness of the environmental impacts of large events, as well as the efforts from exhibitors and other stakeholders to reduce these impacts in their operations,” explained Willis. “Trade shows and exhibitions can have significant environmental impact due to the large amounts of energy and resources that are required to set up and run them, so we’ve taken it upon us to play our part in becoming more sustainable.
“In fact, Advanced Engineering will choose a selection of exhibitors to be a part of our sustainability trail. In the run up to the show, exhibitors can apply if they have a specific sustainable product or service, and the chosen companies will be marked on the floor plan and will also have a tile placed in front of their stand for visitors to see.”
To further its sustainability commitment and facilitate networking opportunities at the show, the new app helps both visitors and exhibitors maximise their time and resources. This new tool allows attendees to arrange meetings and formulate a strategic agenda for the event swiftly and conveniently, owing to an integration function that automatically syncs prearranged meetings to their calendar. Once visitors schedule a talk or book a meeting through the app, these engagements are automatically synced to their calendar, eliminating any worries about missing out on valuable sessions or networking opportunities.
To do this, the app involves several new features, such as a refined booking system. This not only allows visitors to book meetings with exhibitors but also consists of a filtering function that allows users to find individuals by sector, ensuring a rapid scheduling process.
Advanced Engineering returns for its 14th year with a speaker programme made up of some of the leading figures in UK engineering and manufacturing. This year’s day one keynote is Richard Noble, OBE, former holder of the world land speed record and serial innovator at ThrustWSH. Also on the main stage, Eman Martin-Vignerte, Director of External Affairs and Government Relations at Bosch, will share her thoughts on digitalisation and automation. In the afternoon, there will be a women in manufacturing panel, followed by a discussion from a Make UK representative on how new industrial technologies are affecting the skilled workforce.
On day two, the opening keynote will be given by Make UK, and will be followed by talks from Made in Britain on innovation in British engineering and design, and a second panel on women in composites. Two exciting competitions will also be held on the main stage, with the Enabling Innovation competition in the morning and the SAMPE Design and Make competition in the afternoon.
At the aerospace forum, visitors can meet experts from H2FLY, Rolls-Royce, YEET Aerospace, MGI Engineering, ADS, Midlands Aerospace Alliance, Satellite Applications Catapult, Gravitilab and Spirit AeroSystems, who will cover topics ranging from digitally enabled supply chains to propulsion technologies.
Meanwhile, exhibitors can learn about composites circularity, the future of composites, digitalisation being the key to productivity and more at the composites forum. Here, several speakers will be taking the stage from the following companies: AMRC, Creative Composites, NCC, Composites Leadership Forum, Composites UK, KTN Ltd, Plataine, Ford Motor Company, WMG, Composite Branding Ltd and ADS.
Attendees can also see Pim van Baarsen, CEO at Silverstone Technology Cluster, and Lucy Parsons, Sales Account Manager at Nikon Metrology UK, who will be discussing and showcasing innovative products at the automotive forum.
As well as an impressive speaker lineup, Advanced Engineering will also host the final of the Society of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) building competition. The contest aims to provide a practical composite engineering challenge through Young Engineers and Students (YES), where the entrants will be challenged to create a suitable structure and display it at the show.
This year, each team must apply their composites knowledge and creativity to design and construct a bridge capable of spanning a one-metre gap while resisting simple weights. The winner will be the bridge that meets all the specified guidelines and withstands the greatest load before failure. All teams will receive a sustainable composite material kit supplied by sponsors, ensuring equal terms for all participants.
Previous competitions have featured impressive achievements such as the tallest load-bearing composite tower, the longest spanning composite bridge, and the construction of a composite crash structure. This competition enables teams to gain valuable experience for their careers, including teamwork, materials manufacturing and processing, managing technical requirements, networking, and public speaking.
Along with the SAMPE competition, the event will also continue to play host to the Enabling Innovation contest. Centred around the theme of "inspiring the future of engineering and manufacturing," the competition will culminate at this year's exhibition, where finalists will showcase their companies to a panel of esteemed judges.
The finalists will have their own dedicated space at Advanced Engineering, within the Enabling Innovation Zone, allowing them to engage with like-minded businesses and present their ideas to an audience of around 9,000 attendees. As part of the competition, finalists will also demonstrate their innovations to a panel of judges composed of industry leaders on the show’s main stage. This bustling area of the exhibition will provide start-ups with valuable networking opportunities across various sectors, including automotive, aerospace, composites, and Industry 4.0.
The winner of Enabling Innovation will not only receive a trophy, but also earn a complimentary full-sized stand with a branded plinth and marketing at Advanced Engineering 2024. The marketing for the finalists will extend throughout the year, encompassing email campaigns, video interviews, social media exposure, press releases, and a dedicated page on the Advanced Engineering website under the Enabling Innovation section. This extensive marketing support will elevate the profile of these new businesses and open doors to greater opportunities.