On 5th October 2022, BAM project team members, Jennifer Johns and Kautsar Ramli attended the AM-UK Relaunch event at the National Centre for Motorsport Engineering (NCME) in Bolton. The event was organised by the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) and was attended by over 70 network members. The event began with the AMUK members forum and conversations around the development of current UK AM and recent market trends. Jennifer delivered a talk on the project and insights on the BAM project aims and progress, and invited firms to engage with our research.
Jennifer Johns presenting about the BAM Project. Photo by Kautsar Ramli.
We attended pitches by six UK AM firms in which they presented their latest product research and developments. There was a presentation by KTN Innovate UK covering their role and the types of assistance and facilities they offer AM in the UK. A lot of the conversations revolved around challenges within the country and efforts in strengthening the AM landscape to become a world-leading hub through the network. We were informed that there were around 50 new members to the network.
KTN Innovate UK talking about their role and available support for AM firms. Photos by Kautsar Ramli.
The event continued with a networking session over lunch. We met with new potential contributors to the project, who were now more informed of its objectives following our presentation. Conversations started around the current challenges and future avenues of AM in the UK, particularly within the context of crises including Brexit and recession. We found that the revived network is quite diverse in terms of its types of members as the attendees were from various levels of management.
The event continued with the official relaunch of the network, with speeches by AM-UK, MTA, and the University of Bolton representatives. A clip of overview of AM was played before we were brought on a guided tour by NCME as the final item on the itinerary.
The relaunch event, networking session and tours by NCME. Photo by Kautsar Ramli.