Event: Identifying and Developing Additive Manufacturing Skills for UK Industry

31st March 2017,  10:00 – 16:00

The Manufacturing Technology Centre, Coventry (directions here)

Register your place

Investment in education and training leading to the provision of the right skillsets at the right time will be key if UK industry is to capture the opportunities afforded by the adoption of Additive Manufacturing technologies.

This event aims to bring together those with insight into how Additive Manufacturing technologies will develop and can be most effectively deployed by industry in order to advise Additive Manufacturing UK of the nature of future skills needs. Outputs of this event will be used to inform recommendations for action and will support ongoing work with the UK Government and wider stakeholders. The aim is to ensure that the implementation of the UK Industrial Strategy delivers the skills necessary for the on-going success of the many sectors now adopting Additive Manufacturing within the broader changes being realised through the diffusion of Digital Manufacturing.

The conference will cover topics ranging from how to increase general awareness of the practicalities of adopting Additive Manufacturing, through to the development of specific skills and competences in design and manufacturing for both new entrants to the workforce as well as those already in work. Participants will include organisations wanting to develop the Additive Manufacturing skills and competences of their current and future workforce, as well as organisation providing Additive Manufacturing awareness raising and training courses at all levels. We anticipate that the event will lead to a better and more inclusive understanding of the changes necessary to the education and skills of current occupations as well as potential new roles, and understanding of the timing and scale of such changes in demand.

Register your place here.

[Image source]

Developing a UK Strategy for Additive Manufacturing: Help needed

On March 10th, the first workshop to be run as part of the process to develop a UK Strategy for Additive Manufacturing (AM) was held at the MTC in Coventry. The event brought together representatives from a diverse range of organisations with an interest in AM, including leading manufacturing firms, AM/3DP service providers, sector networks, government agencies and universities.

The workshop was an important step in a year-long process of working with the AM community to help coordinate the development, diffusion and adoption of AM technology to support the UK’s industrial competitiveness. Drawing upon lessons captured by colleagues from the Centre for Science Technology and Innovation Policy on the development of public technology strategies in other countries, the development of the UK national strategy for AM will be developed using a combination of techniques. These will include multi-organisation workshops, calls for written evidence, working groups, white papers, and on-line communities.

The two key aims of the first workshop were to share the plan for developing the strategy with the AM community in order to build awareness and encourage engagement, and to use the substantial and diverse experience of the attendees to help target specific areas where evidence gathering should be targeted. Ideas were captured from 100 attendees using a simple structured ‘landscaping’ exercise.

Although the workshop was heavily over-subscribed, it was felt that several key areas were under-represented (e.g. the healthcare, IP, investment, maker and education communities). To address this, a second event will be run on the 25th March at the University of Nottingham. If you would like to apply to attend this event, please contact Phill Dickens or Donna Cope.

[Image source: Tim Minshall]