On Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th May, Goodfellow exhibited at The Advanced Materials Show (AMS) at NEC in Birmingham. A must-attend event in the advanced materials sector, AMS showcases materials with exceptional properties for the latest applications and innovations, along with the technologies used to develop them.
Our newly launched rebrand and website made its debut in the world of events, bringing a fresh new look and feel, which was positively received by visitors to stand 2312. Situated next to The Advanced Materials Theater (Theater C), our stand was ideally located in the flow of traffic, resulting in a steady stream of visitors throughout the event.
Over 130 in-depth conversations took place on-stand between visitors and our expert colleagues: with foams for thermal and medical applications, graphene – celebrating its 20th birthday and a key focus of the event – and its applications, foils and battery materials being just some of the hot advanced material topics over the two-day event. A slightly quieter day two allowed for our colleagues to walk the event, networking with various existing and potential customers, suppliers, and collaborators. Our expert staff were excited to continue the interesting discussions started at AMS in the weeks following the show, hopeful of successful outcomes for all parties involved.
The event organizers were thrilled to provide us with 25 VIP passes. With an overwhelming response from our customers requesting a VIP pass, we were pleased to be able to provide successful recipients the opportunity of the VIP experience, enjoying the benefits of the VIP pass and to stop by the stand for a chat and to collect their VIP goodie bag.
The on-stand entertainment this year were materials themed competitions. The competition for day one was ‘Guess the Material’, consisting of three material samples of increasing difficulty, with participants required to name all three materials to win a prize. This proved a popular activity, and while several correctly guessed two out of three materials, unfortunately no one guessed all three. Day two’s ‘Guess the Material Weight’ required participants to correctly guess the weights for samples of alumina foam, tungsten pellets and polymer fasteners. There were three successful entries - the winners will be notified soon to arrange their prizes.
Our own Dr Aphrodite Tomou, Head of Technical and Mr Adam Sells, Channel Manager, were highlights of day one, each participating in conference sessions in The Advanced Materials Theater (Theater C), drawing strong crowd numbers.
‘What Does It Take to Scale an Advanced Materials Business in the Current Market, Regulatory and Investment Climate?’ had Adam Sells, alongside other industry leaders, delve into the nuanced aspects of scaling an advanced materials business, including market readiness assessments, aligning product development with regulatory standards, securing venture capital and strategic partnerships, with insights into navigating the competitive landscape, intellectual property management and meeting demand supply balance in different markets. Adam commented, “it was great to listen to the insights of my fellow panelists on scaling an advanced materials business. Clearly a broad topic with lots of nuances, I personally found the session interesting and hope the audience did too!”
‘Ensuring We Have the Talent and Skills Needed for Future Materials Industry Growth’ had Dr Aphrodite Tomou and her fellow panelists confront the growing talent crisis in the advanced materials sector. Aphrodite explains that considering the latest advancements in the advanced materials sector, including aerospace innovations and developments in energy sectors like fusion, batteries, and advanced ceramics, materials science professionals require a blend of technical and soft skills for success. Industry and academia should collaborate closely to ensure curricular, encourage joint research projects, and promote apprenticeships. These initiatives are pivotal in ensuring that advanced materials jobs are accessible to a diverse talent pool, while also fostering attraction and retention of talent in the field. As we embrace Industry 4.0, combining artificial intelligence and machine learning with hands-on experience ensures a comprehensive understanding of modern manufacturing processes for a more sustainable future.
Aphrodite continued, “The Advanced Materials Show offers several benefits to industry; co-locating with related expos (The Advanced Ceramics Show, Battery Cells & Systems Expo and Vehicle Electrification Expo) creates cross-industry connections. It served as a hub for knowledge exchange, networking, collaboration and fostering innovation across interconnected industries. I have appreciated the dynamic discussions, meeting fellow experts within their respective fields, and witnessing the enthusiasm for advanced materials science and innovation within different sectors was invigorating.”
P.S. Why not take a sneak peek of what happened behind the scenes during stand set-up for the AMS event:
