Jun 16 2016
Edinburgh Research & Innovation (ERI), the commercialisation arm of the University of Edinburgh, has announced a new AIMday® (Academic Industry Meeting day) for companies looking to find novel and innovative solutions to the challenges the Construction industry faces.
A desire for novel materials, energy efficiency and innovative design approaches coupled with the availability of digital technology and big data, means that innovation is accessible to the construction industry more than ever before.
AIMday Construction will tackle questions posed by companies around topics such as construction management, new building systems, innovative materials, performance and effectiveness of design, resource efficiency, waste-management as well as the use of robotics in construction.
AIMday is a one-day event that allows companies to submit a question or commercial challenge around any element of construction. Academics from across the University, will self-select those questions they believe their research could add the most value to during the company discussion.
On the AIMday itself, the companies and academics meet in a one-hour workshop face to face to discuss possible pathways to a solution - the emphasis being on generating innovative ideas to meet today’s challenges using a multi-disciplinary approach.
Anna Gibbons, Business Development Manager, College of Humanities and Social Science, explains what attendees can expect.
The announcement of AIMday Construction coincides with increased opportunities and ambitions for pushing the boundaries in this sector. With companies increasingly looking to meet varied global market demands, universities are a vital source of innovative thinking that can be called upon. The multi-disciplinary thinking brought to specific company questions on the day is often only the start of the innovative ideas and can often lead to longer term relationships between industry and academia.
Anna Gibbons
This is the eighth AIMday that Edinburgh Research & Innovation has organised at the University of Edinburgh, and the initiative is proving successful in establishing useful contacts and collaborations, as well as identifying possible new solutions to challenges facing organisations today.
I am delighted the University of Edinburgh is hosting what will be a compelling and informative AIMday and we’re looking forward to a good level of engagement from both industry and academia.
Anna Gibbons
The event will be held on 3rd October 2016 at the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation. In 2014, The University of Edinburgh became the first higher academic institute outside Scandinavia to be approved as hosts for AIMday® – a unique collaborative knowledge exchange initiative which began life at Uppsala University in Sweden.
Companies can register and submit their questions or challenges until 15th July 2016 at which point academics will be able to select those questions their research is most closely aligned to.
Interested companies can find out more at www.aimday.se/construction-edinburgh-2016