The event, held at the NEC Birmingham on 1-2 November, encompassed a huge breadth of engineering and manufacturing applications, not only to create a record two-day attendance, 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 and Dassault Systèmes, who met and did business across the supply chain, with visitors from a range of engineering specialisms including: automation, design and test engineering, process control, machining among others.

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, Netcomposites 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 and researchers to showcase the next generation of exciting new technologies.

Alison Willis, industrial divisional director at Easyfairs, organisers of the show, said: “This year, the Composites Engineering zone 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?

Mark Crouchen, managing director of exhibitor Rockwood Composites, said: “What we’re doing is removing the constraints of design in composites. And that’s exactly what the Composites Engineering Show does for our business development – it gives it a huge boost. This has been the best year in terms of quality of enquiries. We have been able to demonstrate our capability to a large number of people. It’s been great for the business.”

John Darlington, exhibitor TenCate’s global director product and market strategy, said: “The Advanced Engineering show is a fantastic opportunity to support our industry partners in meeting new clients. This year was no exception, and indeed has been the most successful ever, delivering more leads, more contact with suppliers and, as importantly, the ability to meet TenCate’s existing customers and partners.”

The show consisted of four other co-locating zones which were: Aero Engineering; Automotive Engineering; Performance Metals Engineering; and Connected Manufacturing – which was new for 2017. Next year’s show will see the addition to these co locating zones of Nuclear Engineering.

Next year’s show takes place from the 31st October until 1st November 2018.

www.advancedengineeringuk.com