The manufacturing sector is the mainstay of the Nelson Mandela Bay economy. The Regional Innovation Forum and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University  invite you to participate in AIMday Advanced Manufacturing which is a customised platform to bring together manufacturing industries and researchers within the region to discuss challenges related to advanced manufacturing for which solutions may be developed collaboratively.

AIMday Advanced Manufacturing will be held on 24 March 2015 at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

We look forward to welcoming you to AIMday Advanced Manufacturing as together we tackle the challenges that inhibit your business from growing to its full potential.

How does AIMday work?

AIMday is a process rather than a one-day event. The following five steps outline the process.

Step 1: Submission of questions from industry
Industry is invited to submit manufacturing-related challenges, formulated as one or more questions, to be discussed with a tailored multidisciplinary team of researchers. Industry also is recommended to add background information related to the question.

The question is submitted to the meeting in advance. Submitting at least one question is the entrance ticket for industry representatives. The deadline for submission of questions is 30 November 2014.

Please note: if you have missed the deadline for submission of questions and would like to pose a question to researchers, please contact us. 

Step 2: Researchers signing up for questions
The questions from industry are gathered and presented to researchers from different disciplines. Thereafter the researchers announce which questions they have a special interest in, and which they would like to take part in discussing.

Registration for researchers closes on 30 January 2015.

Step 3: Matchmaking and formation of groups
The coordinator does the logistics for a schedule based on the interest and availability of researchers. The schedule optimizes participation and efficiency during the day for all attendees, and ensures a multidisciplinary constellation of each discussion group. If not enough researchers have registered for a specific question, the coordinator actively tries to identify appropriate researchers to tailor the discussion group, and if fruitless, the organisation will be informed that the university does not have the specific competences needed.

Step 4: The Meeting Day
AIMday Advanced Manufacturing will be hosted on 24 March 2015. Every question is discussed for one hour, no more – no less, and the size of the group is approximately 7-12 people. Time is also allocated in the program for participants to mingle with each other, or to follow up on the discussion in the groups.

Step 5: Follow-Up
About one month after the AIMday event, the coordinator will follow up on the meetings and if necessary offers assistance to get projects or other forms of collaborations going.