A COMPOSITES expert from the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) has joined an automotive delegation in Japan to seek global innovation collaboration.

Partnership lead at the AMRC’s Composites Centre, Hannah Tew, is among the Innovate UK delegates attending the 2018 Japanese Society of Automotive Engineers Spring Congress in Yokohama this week.

As part of its commitment to helping more innovative UK businesses to unlock global opportunities, Innovate UK, in partnership with the Advanced Propulsion Centre, is taking a delegation of the nation’s most promising automotive innovators, engineers and entrepreneurs to Japan.

The ‘Innovation Mission’ is an opportunity to connect the individuals leading the UK’s automotive innovation with Japan, a global hub for industry decision making and invention. The delegation will be introduced to the individuals and organisations at the forefront of the automotive industry and Hannah will be there to raise the profile of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult's Next Generation Composite Manufacturing initiative.

The agenda also features meetings with some of the biggest names in the Japanese automotive industry - providing innumerable opportunities to expand the UK’s business network and secure the connections needed to grow, scale and trade overseas.

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, drives productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and enabling them to recognise the potential of new and innovative ideas.

The Innovate UK-led mission is not only an opportunity to connect the individuals at the very forefront of UK automotive innovation with like-minded individuals, facilitating global learning networks, but also to help UK businesses unlock business partnerships, investment and export opportunities. This will help each organisation represented to grow their UK-based business and, ultimately, bolster UK productivity.

Unlocking the UK’s automotive pedigree, Innovate UK recognises that, despite UK-based expertise, a lack of access to local knowledge can often remain a fundamental and insurmountable barrier to overseas business success - from visibility of potential collaborators and their lessons, new technologies and approaches, to new commercial opportunities and research.

With funding expertise spanning zero emission vehicles, connected and autonomous vehicles, battery technologies, niche vehicles and vehicle charging, Innovate UK is well-positioned to facilitate credible and long-term partnerships, such as those that will be unlocked by the delegation’s presence at JSAE 2018.