At Advanced Engineering, which takes place from 4-5 November at the NEC, Birmingham, engineers, manufacturers, technology developers and supply chain specialists will come together to understand what is changing, what is emerging and what demands attention next.
UK engineering and manufacturing are facing both pressures and opportunities – skills shortages, supply chain issues, geopolitical instability and changing trade relationships, AI moving from possibility to application, new materials creating fresh opportunities, and net zero influencing decisions across design, production and investment.
Advanced Engineering is taking place at a time when businesses are looking not only for new technologies, but for clearer direction and stronger connections. Aerospace, automotive, defence, electronics, energy, advanced materials, composites and manufacturing technology are increasingly connected by shared challenges and overlapping opportunities. Questions around productivity, resilience, supply chain security and digital adoption now move across the wider industrial landscape.
Commenting on the event, Stephen Phipson CBE, chief executive officer at Make UK, said: “I love coming to Advanced Engineering because it’s a great place to see some of the most advanced technologies being deployed in manufacturing right now. I’m especially interested in those related to AI, green technologies, and renewables – areas where we’re seeing high growth. This event is a fantastic showcase for cutting-edge innovation.”
UK Metals Expo Co-location
This year, the event will be co-located with UK Metals Expo. Together, the two events will create one connected experience across metals, composites, materials and advanced engineering, bringing more than 700 exhibitors and over 15,000 visitors to the NEC Birmingham.
This reflects how engineering works in practice. Material choices influence performance, cost, sustainability and manufacturability. Supply chain decisions affect resilience, lead times and innovation capacity. Design, processing and production technologies all shape one another. By bringing Advanced Engineering and UK Metals Expo together, the 2026 edition creates a broader and more joined-up view of the industrial landscape.
For visitors, that means the ability to move more easily between upstream materials expertise and downstream applications, components, systems and manufacturing processes, creating a more complete picture of how industrial decisions connect across the value chain.
AI, electronics and engineering
From design optimisation and simulation to automation, predictive maintenance and data-led decision-making, AI is increasingly shaping how organisations improve efficiency, reduce risk and strengthen competitiveness.
Electronics sits just as firmly within that shift. Across aerospace, automotive, defence, energy and manufacturing, the systems being designed and deployed today rely on increasingly sophisticated electronics, sensing, connectivity and control; and semiconductors are central to modern engineering performance.
Recognising that, Advanced Engineering 2026 will introduce a new Electronics and Semiconductors Forum focused on advanced electronics, systems and photonics. Its addition reflects the reality that engineering is becoming more integrated, more connected and more dependent on technologies that cross traditional boundaries.
Enabling Innovation Zone
While companies are solving problems in materials, manufacturing, automation, systems integration and industrial technology, many of those developments remain hidden within supply chains or specialist markets.
Advanced Engineering helps bring that work into view. Through its Enabling Innovation Zone, SME pavilions, forums, advisory input and wider industry voices, the event creates space for discussion around the issues businesses are actively trying to solve, from industrial resilience and advanced materials to skills, electronics and the practical application of innovation.
Simon Farnfield, head of UK Manufacturing Cluster at Easyfairs, said: “Advanced Engineering has always had an important role in bringing together the communities shaping the future of UK industry. What is increasingly clear is that businesses do not need more noise; they need relevant conversations, trusted connections and practical insight. Whether the issue is AI, supply chain resilience, advanced materials, electronics or long-term capability, our focus is to create an event where the industry can come together to share knowledge, explore solutions and better understand what happens next.”
