On the Sustainability stage, I had the opportunity to share how we’ve integrated Greener Software Principles into our designs and their impact on the steel industry. Our collaboration with leading rebar supplier Midland Steel aims to optimise production processes and drive a reduction in scrap and carbon emissions. My talk detailed how our tools aim to reduce emissions but we are also trying to optimise development practices to prevent inefficiencies. I also got to meet project collaborator Mark Elwell from KUKA Robotics Ireland partners on this project.

I contributed to a panel discussion tackled the critical topic of “Addressing the Skills Gap in Northern Ireland, which was moderated by Brian Barry along with Philip McNally, Senior Manager at Deloitte Ireland. We talked about many solutions to the skills gaps, often return to key practical ones such as education and mentoring.

I shared how a programme like Strada Europe’s first dedicated leadership programme for emerging women in manufacturing could contribute addressing the manufacturing skills gap across Europe. The stats for female representation at middle management level are estimated to be 17% and female participation in junior roles is as low at 25%. Strada is a 3 month online programme that is EIT Manufacturing and Innovate UK funded, making it free to participants. A highlight for me was meeting Lauren McGarry Senior Engineer at AMIC who took Strada last year. She supported me on my talk and shared her first hand experience of the value that the programme gave her.

There was an update on one of the biggest development in NI, the new Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (AMIC) and CEO Sam Turner shared his vision for how Northern Ireland can harness innovation to strengthen its manufacturing industry. The centre is led by Queen’s University Belfast with a £100m investment, they are building a world-class, industry-led innovation centre, supported by top-tier engineering expertise and academic excellence.

There were lots of great exhibitors and I really enjoyed chatting about scrap with the folks from McKenzies who are a leading metal recycler based in Belfast. Their new smelting furnace keeps keep around 40,000 tons of aluminium from being shipped outside of Northern Ireland.