If you’re working within the advanced manufacturing sector, the chances are you saw for yourself just how busy Advanced Engineering was at the NEC on 1&2 November. Representatives spanning a huge breadth of engineering & manufacturing applications came together, not only to create a record 2-day attendance for the event, but also sparking off an exhibitor booking frenzy for its 2018 edition, 35% higher than that the previous year.
The UK’s largest meeting place for advanced engineers attracted some of the industry’s biggest names including Airbus; Boeing; Jaguar Land Rover; Hexcel; and Dassault Systèmes, who met and did business across the supply chain, with visitors from a range of engineering specialisms including: automation, design & test engineering, process control, machining and many more.
The two-day open conference, which was newly ‘Continuing Professional Development (CPD)’ – accredited for this year, by the CPD Certification Service, had a raft of speakers and topics, including talks from the Department of International Trade, Composites UK, GKN, Siemens, Nissan and more.
Visitors saw a variety of cutting edge technology and materials from exhibitors as well as show floor features. It was the only place in the world where you could find, in the one place, a hydrogen powered car, the latest in aircraft landing gear, a battery made 100% from recycled materials, a ground based test rig for electric contra rotating propulsion, and a Libralato hybrid engine to name but a few.
In addition the Enabling Innovation showcase, sponsored by Magna and supported by Innovate UK, significantly expanded and provided a unique opportunity for 50 start-ups & researchers to showcase the next generation of exciting new technologies.
Alison Willis, industrial divisional director at Easyfairs, organisers of the show, said: “This year was outstanding. The visitors, the conference speakers, the companies who supplied the show floor features and the exhibitors have all contributed to making Advanced Engineering 2017 a success!
“Our new zone, Connected Manufacturing, was hugely popular, with a particularly well-attended open forum, demonstrating the importance of Industry 4.0 to companies of all sizes. Watch this space for an expanded Connected Manufacturing in 2018!
“And now, we are looking to even more areas of expansion for Advanced Engineering, with the addition of our new Nuclear Engineering zone, addressing nuclear energy build, operation and supply chain. We will be in touch with all exhibitors and visitors in the next few months. We’ll be pulling the stops out even further next year as 2018 is the Show’s 10th birthday, and it’s set to be bigger and better than ever!”
What did some of the exhibitors have to say?
Tom Hammond, Mindsphere product & partner Manager, Siemens, said: “Fantastic two days where we saw a real diverse set of visitors from students to start-ups to SMEs to enterprises, all with really exciting business cases and solutions which can be enabled by Mindsphere.”
Julia Moore, GTMA, said: “Excellent show, it is the best 2 days! It’s great, don’t change the format!”
Iain Wallace, RAR UK Ltd, said: “An excellent platform to connect with new potential businesses. The quality of visitor was excellent in terms of beneficial understanding and inquisitive questions of our products.”
The show consisted of four other co-locating zones which were: Aero Engineering; Composites Engineering; Automotive Engineering; and Performance Metals Engineering. Next year’s show will see the addition to these co locating zones of Nuclear Engineering.
Thinking of exhibiting at next year’s show on the 31st Oct & 1st Nov? Visit www.advancedengineeringuk.com for more information.
