On October 30th – 31st 2024, over 9,800 engineering and manufacturing professionals attended the NEC, Birmingham, for the 15th edition of Advanced Engineering. Across the two days, visitors witnessed the very latest that the industry had to offer, with over 400 exhibitors showcasing their innovations.
The exhibiting companies included representatives from Atlas Copco, Optimas, Airtech Advanced Materials and RS Group. Several leading industry associations also had a presence, such as Composites UK, Innovate UK, the GTMA and the National Composites Centre. Advanced Engineering’s co-located sister show, Lab Innovations, hosted a further 200 exhibitors, meaning visitors had access to an even wider array of professionals from the scientific community.
The event had several features, new and returning, to keep attendees busy across the two days. This included the return of the Enabling Innovation zone – an area for start-ups and SMEs to showcase their cutting edge technologies. On the second day, Enabling Innovation exhibitors were invited to pitch their company and technology to a panel of judges. Dream Big Composites was crowned, with its composite smart vacuum system – a groundbreaking IoT device that automates the critical monitoring and control of vacuum pumps to prevent leaks and thermal runaway in composite manufacturing.
For companies targeting the aerospace and defence sectors, ADS returned with its Meet the Buyer programme, during which 103 suppliers registered for the event and 18 buyer representatives attended.
Attendees also had access to over 200 industry-leading speakers across its forums. On Advanced Engineering’s main stage, Stephen Phipson CBE, Chief Executive of Make UK delivered the keynote speech – who was able to deliver incredible insight into the UK Government’s focus for the year ahead.
Also, on the main stage were talks from Brian Holliday, head of Siemens Digital Industries for the UK and Ireland, Matthew Atkinson, lead research engineer at Jaguar Land Rover and Shaun Harris CBE, director of support and chief engineer in the Royal Air Force. There was also a Q&A with Guy Martin, British motorcycle racer turned TV presenter.
Another pavilion hosted by Innovate UK was the Driving the Electric Revolution initiative, featuring over 25 innovations in electrification and sustainable energy. Visitors explored advancements set to transform automotive, aerospace and energy storage sectors via the role of electrification in modern engineering.
Across the exhibition’s other forums – automotive, aerospace, composites and advanced materials technology – visitors could hear from industry experts on topics ranging from supply chain management, digitalisation to the skills gap.
With visitor numbers increasing from 2023 and over 60 hours of content across the forums, Advanced Engineering organisers, Easyfairs, received positive feedback for this year’s event. 80% of exhibitor space is already sold for 2025, which will take place on October 29th – 30th at the NEC, Birmingham.
Becca is the latest member to join our team and is eager to get stuck into the world of fasteners. She brings an enthusiastic and fresh outlook on what we do editorially and will be leading our social media activity – including sourcing material, editing articles and posting online.
