Many factors contributed to this decline. Location was one; an electronics show in the centre of London, for example, was not an attractive proposition for someone based in the North. Pressure of work was another; with a decline in the number of design engineers and the amount of work remaining the same, or even increasing, time became a valuable commodity.
Ask design engineers about the challenges they face and you’ll get a selection of replies, but it’s a fair chance those responses will include things like ‘delivering designs on time’, ‘designing to tight budgets’ and ‘access to new technology’.
Findlay Media looked to address these issues and to break what appeared to be a downward spiral in exhibition attendance with the launch in 2012 of the Engineering Design Show. Our research said that potential attendees wanted high value technical conference sessions, practical workshops and the ability to discuss the latest technology with leading suppliers. The event – designed for design engineers – was a great success, with the combination of conference sessions, show floor workshops and exhibits from leading companies being well received.
Since then, the event has gone from strength to strength. It’s now three times larger than in 2012, with the Electronics Design Show and the Embedded Design Show catering for specific needs.
This year’s event takes place at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena on 21 and 22 October. There’s a strong conference line up, with issues to be discussed ranging from the IoT to graphene to 5G communications, with presentations from companies like ARM and Freescale. There’s a strong workshop line up, with 20 sessions in the two electronics and embedded focused theatres. And there’s more than 100 exhibitors.
But that’s just electronics. We know that many electronic engineers now have a broader engineering remit – and the same works the other way. With the co-located Engineering Design Show, designers can find answers to their problems under the one roof.
The visit to Coventry will be a worthwhile investment; we hope to see your there.
