This year’s Future Propulsion Conference (FPC) drew in record visitor numbers, with over 600 delegates having attended the two-day event, which was held 2-3 March at the Motorcycle Museum in Solihull.
Returning as an in-person event for the first time in two years since the pandemic started, the atmosphere was upbeat and positive. Key industry stakeholders, including engineers, academics and industry leaders, came together to network and learn about the latest technical developments and research innovations in the propulsion sector, as well as understand broader market trends and forecasts.
A host of keynote speakers covered a range of highly pertinent topics such as ‘UK transport vision 2050’, ‘Mainstreaming hydrogen and fuel cells’, ‘Decarbonisation of Mobility’ and ‘Powertrain Evolution of Off-Highway Vehicles’, while the packed seminar programme also offered valuable insights, including markets and regulations, batteries modelling and applications, heavy-duty and off-highway, power electronics, system simulation, fuel cells and more. Professor Richard Burke and Dr Aaron Costall, members of the IAAPS academic team, formed part of the speaker line-up, sharing thought leadership and research results around key future propulsion advances and projects.
Appetite for collaboration
Showcasing IAAPS’ expanded commercial scope and diversification into market sectors such as aerospace and hydrogen, as well as its vast technical test and validation capabilities, the IAAPS stand in the main Britannia Hall attracted a lot of interest from the get-go, with discussions centred around how joint partnerships and collaboration projects can support the transport sector’s drive towards net zero emissions. Furthermore, there was palpable excitement about the imminent opening of the new IAAPS facility and the opportunities the state-of-the-art R&I centre presents to the wider industry and commercial partners.
“This year’s FPC has been a very vibrant and successful event. Despite the challenges the industry is facing, the overall mood was optimistic, with renewed determination to accelerate the transition towards net zero and to develop the necessary technical solutions to achieve this goal. There was a real appetite for collaboration and enterprise and we have connected with many potential new customers and future partners,” said Tony Reid, IAAPS Business Development and Enterprise Manager. “With our new IAAPS facility set to become fully operational within the next few weeks, it was a great platform to present our capabilities and to signal that we are open for business.”
14 March 2022