University hosts West Yorkshire Innovation Festival events
The 3M Buckley Innovation Centre (3M BIC) and the University of Huddersfield are hosting events at the West Yorkshire Innovation Festival taking place 15 – 19 March 2021.
The festival aims to help businesses across the Leeds City Region to embrace innovation and will provide a suite of virtual events from workshops to talks, masterclasses and knowledge sharing to interviews with innovative businesses.
Created by the West Yorkshire Innovation Network and coordinated by the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (the LEP), the aim is to help SMEs in our region to innovate, discover support available and build connections, so they can improve efficiencies, increase productivity and build resilient businesses.
The 3M Buckley Innovation Centre (3M BIC) and the University of Huddersfield are hosting the following events:
Innovation Now: opportunities for business & universities to work together
Tuesday 16 March, 14:00 – 16:30
As part of a wider event to demonstrate how working with universities can benefit your business delivered by Yorkshire Universities, the University of Huddersfield is hosting an interactive breakout session that will explore challenges and opportunities for collaboration relating to innovation in the textiles sector. The audience will learn more about current initiatives in technical textiles and the Future Fashion Factory programme. Participants will also have an opportunity to inform a new Study which is seeking to map the innovation landscape for textiles in the region and identify key priorities for future industrial collaboration.
Idea to Prototype
Wednesday 17 March, 13:00 – 14:00
Learn how to take a product idea from a sketch to a full prototype and hear how the 3M BIC helps businesses through this journey. The 3M BIC’s Lead Designer, Paul Tallon, will outline the seven stages of product development and members of the 3M BIC’s design and technology team will provide demonstrations of the centre’s advanced technology, including additive manufacture and X-Ray Computerised Tomography (XCT) . A Q&A session will follow with the 3M BIC’s design and technology team.
Innovation in Action Masterclass: Prof Liz Towns-Andrews
Thursday 18 March, 13:30 - 14:30
3M Professor of Innovation, Professor Liz Towns-Andrews, will demystify the term ‘innovation’ and what this means for SMEs and smaller businesses. This masterclass will explore in practical terms how adopting innovation within a company can solve real-world problems and generate improved products and processes, considering both the people and technology factors. Liz will share real-life case studies of how companies in a range of sectors have used different approaches to innovation, in partnership with the University of Huddersfield, to help develop their business. The event will include a 40-minute talk from Liz followed by a 15/20-minute Q&A session.
Building West Yorkshire’s Rail Innovation Eco-System
Friday 19 March, 10:00-11:00
This event will outline the key strengths of West Yorkshire’s combined strengths in railway research and innovation as identified in a recent study. It will discuss the formation of a new Northern Rail Innovation Network (led by the University Huddersfield and University of Leeds) and future priorities and potential collaborations with the industry. Participants include Professor Simon Iwnicki from the University of Huddersfield’s Institute for Rail Research.
Innovation Debate: Focus on Health & Digital
Friday 19 March, 11:00 – 12:00
In conjunction with the Kirklees Top 100 Companies, leading businesses in the health and digital sectors will gather to discuss their stories and share advice on how they have grown their companies in Kirklees, with a focus on how they continue to innovate as a key part of their business strategy.
Chaired by Stephen Moore of CityFibre, speakers include:
Claire Paxman, Director of Sales and Training of Paxman Scalp Cooling
Hannah Longbottom/Alex Gutteridge, Director of Innovate Orthopaedics
James Clarkson, CEO of Adventoris
Sue Cooke, CEO of 3M Buckley Innovation Centre
Karen Dodd, Head of Research & Development at Thornton and Ross
Discover more information about West Yorkshire Innovation Festival or how to register for any of the events.