Future Engineering 2018 – summary

 The 4th Science and Business Conference: Future Engineering 2018. Technical and organizational innovative solutions for industry, organized by the Institute for Sustainable Technologies – National Research Institute in Radom in cooperation with the Business Centre Club, was held on 15-16 May 2018 at the “Panorama” Hotel in Mszczonów, Poland. This event was organized under the honorary patronage of the Committee on Machine Building of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the National Centre for Research and Development, and the Marshal of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship. The business partner of the FE2018 was Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa.

       The conference, just as the previous editions, was focused on the development of cooperation between science and industry, including the generation of the research and implementation projects. Previous successes in achieving the conferences’ objectives aroused interest among a wide range of entrepreneurs. This year, they represented more than 60% of conference participants, including world leaders, such as ITM, Pesa, Bosch Rexroth, Bossard, Celsa Huta Ostrowiec, or Festo, as well as well-known family companies operating on the domestic and international market (among others Radmot, Sigma, Trend Glass). There were also representatives of leading polytechnics, universities, research institutes, and representatives of the business support organizations.

       The event was the opportunity for meetings and discussions between science and business representatives, the exchange of knowledge and research experience in many areas of technology transfer, innovative technical systems, modern solutions in the field of material engineering, and mechatronic and optomechatronic technologies.

       Presentations of the representatives of innovative companies have caused heated debate during plenary sessions, expert panels, as well as those in the lobby. This enabled defining barriers between science and industry, and indicating solutions facilitating overcoming those barriers. These issues were raised during the plenary session, Business and Science – Innovations in business practice and during the expert sessions, Barriers of commercialization in cooperation between science and business, and Systems supporting the development of the R&D sector. The two days of debate also allowed participants to reflect on the sources of the success of companies that have been among the leaders of Polish and global businesses for years. An interesting part of the event was the presentations prepared by representatives of the Polish Patent Office on the intellectual strategy management as well as trademarks and industrial designs.

       The issue of succession also enjoyed a great deal of interest. This well-known but overlooked and legally unregulated subject was presented in the expert panel entitled: Conditions, needs and limitations of the succession in the family enterprises.

       It was a great pleasure for us to host all the representatives of the science, industry, and business support organizations at the conference, and thanks to participation in discussions we were inspired on the subject of the next conference. Let us meet again at the 5th Future Engineering Conference!