Collaboration takes centre stage at C2I 2016

At the beginning of this year we launched a competition to identify some of the UK’s most innovative and exciting engineering collaborations.

We wanted to highlight the role that collaboration plays in developing the technological solutions to some of our biggest problems. We wanted to champion the depth of the relationship between the UK’s businesses and its academic research community. And – perhaps most importantly – we wanted to explore exactly what it is about these projects that makes them successful.

After an exhaustive shortlisting and judging process we announced the winners at a special party held earlier this year in London. But this wasn’t the end of the process.

Earlier this month (17^th November, 2016) C2I culminated with a conference at Coventry’s Manufacturing Technology Centre where - alongside keynote speakers including Formula One engineering legend Prof Gordon Murray - the winners talked about the technologies they’ve developed, the problems they’ve solved and the challenges they’ve overcome.

The projects on show – which you can read more about here – were a striking reminder of the depth and variety of engineering expertise in the UK. But they all had had one thing in common: they’re all the products of collaboration, inspiring examples of what can be achieved when different disciplines and different areas of expertise are brought together to solve a problem.

As we consider how the UK can maintain its competitive edge outside of Europe, the skill of forming new relationships, pooling expertise, and finding new ways of working together has arguably never been more important. And we look forward to exploring and championing these important themes once again in Collaborate to Innovate 2017.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9MeJRV8uxA

Watch this space for information on how to enter.

Finally, we’d like to say a huge thank you to all of the judges, sponsors and above all the engineers and researchers who have helped make Collaborate to Innovate 2016 such a fascinating and rewarding initiative.