The UK's largest annual trade show and open conference for the high performance engineering sectors closed its doors to record numbers of visitors this November. Advanced Engineering UK had its biggest show ever, bringing together more engineering professionals than ever before to meet, do business, and gain insight from experts into the latest industry opportunities and innovations.
The show, which took place on 4 & 5 November 2015, witnessed increased footfall from engineering decision makers ranging from the likes of: Airbus to Aston Martin; Dyson to Doncasters; Red Bull Technology to Ricardo; Siemens to Sunseeker Yachts; Q8 Oils to Qinetiq - the list goes on.
Katie Crocombe, Event Director for Advanced Engineering UK, comments: "This is the first year we at Easyfairs have hosted Advanced Engineering UK, and it has exceeded all of our expectations. The attendance figures are absolutely incredible and the buzz on the showfloor was something I have never heard before. It was electric! We just wanted to thank our visitors and exhibitors who supported the show through its recent acquisition. Without you the show could not have been anywhere near as successful as it has.
"Having the very best and brightest of the engineering industry under one roof is always cause for celebration. Every area of the show was heaving throughout, and the feedback from visitors and exhibitors has been fantastic. It is great to be part of such a vibrant show. We are already deep in planning for 2016, so make sure you stay tuned to see where we can go from here!"
The sell-out show was packed with a host of engineering feats including the ARION1 Land Speed Bicycle, Vestas Sailrocket 2, the game-changing MK3 Libralato Engine, the Facebook Aquila Solar Plane wing, Micro Metalsmiths' BeBionic arm, Canon's SLA printed and 3D scanned Webb Ellis Cup and Tesla's Model S electric car. It also featured speakers from international organisations such as Boeing, Magna International, Siemens, Jaguar Land Rover, European Space Agency, SAE International, Cannon, Bentley Motors and Airbus UK.
Among the speakers of the UK's largest conference programme was Norman Wijker, CEO at Team Invictus who shared his experiences of creative engineering. He stated: "SMEs, supply chain manufacturers, ROs, OEMs and government funding agencies need to try and understand creativity and find ways that can open up design spaces for truly innovative products."
On day two, Patti Kreh, New Programme Development Manager at SAE International ITC explored Cybersecurity. Kreh commented: "Safety is always the number one concern when it comes to security. With more code being used, more products connect to the internet, plus hackers getting more sophisticated, it is no wonder Cybersecurity is a key engineering subject.
"Many are taking an innovative approach to Cybersecurity, for instance Tesla and American Airlines, who are offering a reward to anyone who can hack its systems. This is a novel approach, but allows the organisations to see where they are weak, and strengthen before they are attacked unexpectedly. In my opinion 2015 will be dubbed 'Year of the car hacks'."
Matthew Lawson, Patent Examiner at The Intellectual Property Office, who attended the Open Conference Programme, remarked: "The presentations have been particularly informative and useful. The Open Conference programme is the reason I am attending both days of the show and it really hasn't disappointed."
If the educational content on offer was not enough, many of the exhibitors used the show to launch products to the UK market: Royal Tool Control launched its new Tool Master 'BASIC' presetter; Afinia introduced its new ScanR, Sia Abrasives presented its new 'Sianet' range; ETPS debuted its super capacitor emulation GUI - the list just keeps going!
Darren Roberts, Director at DCR Machines, exhibiting at the show, said: "As a first time exhibitor we wondered if we would fit into the show's profile, but it has been great. We have had an overwhelming interest in our products, across an array of industries, including automotive, nautical, gasket cutting and many more. Our die cutting machines have been hugely successful with the visitors, helping them find the perfect solution for their issues. We consider Advanced Engineering UK to have been a very worthwhile venture!"
Also exhibiting at the show was Ryan Milne, Marketing Manager at Canon, who remarked: "Canon enjoyed a very busy two days at Advanced Engineering UK 2015. Our Additive Manufacturing division, which sells 3D printing solutions, had a great variety of interesting conversations, which generated lots of promising leads. See you again in 2016."
The next Advanced Engineering UK will take place on 2 & 3 November 2016. For anyone interested in exhibiting, more information can be found at www.advancedengineeringuk.com or via the show team on +44 (0)20 8843 8800 or duncan.harrison@uktechevents.com.
