Advanced Engineering has announced the 20 SMEs which will take part in this year’s Enabling Innovation, a special area at the show which has been created in partnership with Magna International and the Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) at the event next week.

Advanced Engineering, the UK’s largest dedicated advanced engineering event, established Enabling Innovation to provide SMEs and early stage innovators with the unique opportunity to present their breakthrough concepts, products and solutions to the UK’s largest and most diverse advanced engineering and technology audience.

The 20 featured companies for 2016 have gone through a rigorous selection process and have been selected, by Magna International, as the most innovative and disruptive technologies in the market today. As part of its support Magna will also hold a pitching competition live on the Enabling Innovation theatre where it will award £5,000 to the technology with the most potential. 

Competing for the cash prize is 8power which will present its patented vibration energy harvesting devices and sensors - an attractive, low-cost alternative to limited lifetime batteries. Following the same theme is Aceleron which will be displaying its technology that transforms end of life lithium batteries into affordable energy storage solutions.

3D Printing is set to be a key focus with Adaptive Moulding bringing its reconfigurable tooling solution, allowing the process of faster and cheaper plastic parts. Whilst, Photocentric will be detailing the largest 3D printer of its type, which operates on daylight sensitive resin, creating the highest definition objects.

Ross Robotics has developed robots that harness automation and reconfiguration to imitate the adaptability of living creatures. Singularity Insight will showcase its Expert Teleportation, which allows specialists to see a situation through a technician's eyes, from potentially thousands of miles away. Plus, Braci - The Smart Ear has created a sound recognition platform that detects and converts sounds in to sensory and visual notifications through smart devices back to the wearer/user.

For those with a more manufacturing and power focus HPC-Blade is debuting its innovative design and manufacturing solution for wind-turbine blades, which offers weight saving, improved reliability, faster manufacture and lower cost. Libertine has developed high performance linear electrical machines and free piston devices for power and motion. While Neuron Soundware’s team of machine learning experts are building a framework of neural networks to understand, learn from and process sounds, allowing the diagnosis and prediction of technical problems in heavy machinery, car engines, turbines and more.

Smart seems to be the words on everyone’s lips at the moment, and the Enabling Innovations Zone does not disappoint. Smartlife will show its textile soft-sensors, electronics and software that are capable of detecting and processing biophysical signals from the body. These ‘smart garments’ can wirelessly deliver accurate and insightful information to users about their heart rate, breathing pattern, muscle activation, movement patterns and more. Also on show and competing for the Magna prize will be WICASTR, a patented SMART Wireless Platform that enables the creation of wireless networks and content distribution everywhere, enabling SMART Transport and Locations.

Katie Crocombe, Event Director of Advanced Engineering comments: “It is our priority to make our event the home of innovation across the engineering sector. We are thrilled to be able to offer these companies in their infancy the opportunity to present the most ground-breaking technologies and services to our 13,000 strong audience, full of dedicated buyers. It just shows how much innovation is on offer in the UK engineering sector, and more than that just, how bright the future looks. Obviously we want to thank Magna International and KTN for the continued support of the show and for being part of this excellent show feature. I can’t wait for the doors to open and to see these innovations first hand.

For the full list of 20 organisations taking part in the Enabling Innovation please follow the link. Advanced Engineering takes place at Birmingham’s NEC on 2 & 3 November. For more information about free registration please visit www.advancedengineeringuk.com or contact one of the Easyfairs team on +44 (0)20 8843 8800.