Being part of a project launched in 2020, the Driving the Electric Revolution Industrialisation Centres (DER-IC) team have become experts in presenting and networking over Zoom.
However, we’re now seeing a welcome return to in-person events in the Power Electronics, Machines and Drives (PEMD) sector, with DER-IC participating in a range of fantastic sector events in March 2022. Here’s our highlights from this month:
FPC 2022
Our first in-person event of the month was the Future Propulsion Conference (FPC2022) at the Birmingham NEC, a fantastic opportunity for industry and academic experts within the powertrain development field to come together. We were delighted to see some familiar faces, as well as making new contacts in the sector, at the DER-IC exhibition stand, and our DER-IC – South West and Wales Centre Lead Paul Jarvie facilitated some great discussions at the Power Electronics and Electrical Machines panels.
The talks ranged from how Tier 1 suppliers can develop and manufacture future-focused, sustainable products, as discussed by Steve Lambert of McLaren Applied, to technologies and market outlook of electric motors for electric vehicles, as discussed by James Edmondson of IDTechEx. The presentations are available to download on the FPC website.
SMI Annual Conference 2022
The DER-IC team attended some engaging maritime events in March, the first of which was the Society of Maritime Industries (SMI) annual conference, hosted at Sage Gateshead, Newcastle.
Our DER-IC – North East COO Rachel Chambers presented on the Role of Technology and Marine Science panel alongside some great speakers: Ashley Nicholson MBE, Marine Director at Port of Tyne; Ben Keith, MD at CEbotiX; Jake Thompson, Head of Innovation Products & Services at Rolls-Royce Royce; and Oskar Levander, SVP Business Concepts at Kongsberg Maritime. We were particularly interested to hear about the Port of Tyne’s Clean Maritime project, which includes a new “Innovation for Growth” programme aimed at SMEs in the North East of England.
Maritime Electrification
Another maritime event was hosted this month by DER-IC – Scotland, alongside SMI and MarRI-UK, at the University of Strathclyde’s Technology & Innovation Centre.
Some interesting discussions took place on the challenges and opportunities in electrification of the sector across the entire ecosystem from small boats to tankers. DER-IC can support with future developments and growing the number of opportunities for UK projects to lead the way in delivering demo projects and the supply chain of necessary technologies.
Engage With…LIVE!
Finally, DER-IC was delighted to attend the first in-person event in UKRI and KTN’s “Engage With” series, which was established during the pandemic to enable leading companies and organisations involved in PEMD to continue networking with the community.
Engage With…LIVE! was a one-day event taking place at the Octagon Centre, Sheffield, with the aim of bringing the PEMD sector together to discuss future prospects for partnerships, collaborations and projects in person.
DER-IC was delighted to host a sponsored drinks reception and dinner the evening before the event at Cutlers’ Hall, with presentations from our Chair Matt Boyle and the Head of UKRI’s Driving the Electric Revolution Challenge, Will Drury.
The networking continued the following day at the event itself, where we enjoyed meeting friends old and new at our exhibition stand, as well as organising the Compound Semiconductor Power Electronics panel as chaired by our South West and Wales Centre Lead Paul Jarvie.
