Connecting Manufacturing and Industry:

Manufacturing is a critical sector in the UK, employing over 2.6 million and contributing ~9% of GDP to the UK economy. With the race to net zero, heightened geopolitical uncertainty, rapid technological advances and continuous disruptions to supply chains, remaining competitive is increasingly challenging.

Against the backdrop of these challenges, there is a need for stronger collaboration between industry and academia to drive continuous innovation and solve the more complex problems of today and of the future. The benefits from industry-academia collaboration are symbiotic. Through the combination of sector- and discipline-specific knowledge and expertise, these partnerships enable industry and academic groups to work together and co-design research programmes which will inform and underpin industry’s response to these challenges. Such partnerships will allow a broad spectrum of opportunities, including:

- Shared knowledge and skills

- New research informed opportunities for innovation and commercialisation

- Embedding world-leading research with manufacturing practice

- Access to additional research and innovation funding routes

- Access to world leading resources, including state of the art technology and equipment (e.g. Bristol Digital Futures Institute, Isambard AI)

- Access to world-leading staff and students at the University of Bristol

- Co-design educational programmes to create the work force of the future

The aim of this event is to bring together the manufacturing community with the University of Bristol Business School, a leading Business School in the UK, to develop and drive forward a collaborative, interdisciplinary research agenda. In doing so, the event will showcase success stories, facilitate panel discussions, and provide information on funding opportunities and other routes to collaborative research.

Event Overview [detailed agenda to follow]

- An introduction to the University of Bristol Business School (Professor Brian Squire, Dean of the University of Bristol Business School)

- Outline of key industry challenges - Make UK

- Research and Facility Showcase – University of Bristol Business School

- Panel discussion on the cross-sector perceptions of the challenges and how and what research can inform industry’s response to these challenges

- Collaborative Funding Routes and Opportunities

- Summing up and next steps

Registration: To register, please follow the link to purchase tickets

Ticket Costs:

Make UK members £20

Non-Make UK members £30

Registration closes on the 20th of May

Host or Publisher Make UK