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On October 30 and 31, 2024, over 9,800 engineering and manufacturing professionals flocked to the NEC, Birmingham, to attend 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.
One exhibitor, James Watson, a regional director for Make UK Defence said, “This is our first time exhibiting and we’ve been blown away. We didn’t know what to expect, but the interest has been incredible. Our stand hasn’t stopped — we’ve seen a lot of existing members, along with a flood of new ones, and we’ve gathered dozens of actionable leads in one morning.”
Visitors included representatives from Airbus, Dyson, JLR, McLaren and Rolls-Royce, plus many more. 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, including representatives from Innovation DB and Innovate UK. Dream Big Composites was crowned with their winner, 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.
