On the 27th March 2023 the pro² network+ held our first event, marking the launch of the network. In attendance was a fantastic mix of academics and industry professionals spanning the electronics, manufacturing, digital health, business, journalism, inventions, materials and robotics arenas.  

The day was structured around talks from the pro² team detailing the context and objectives for the network, in addition to talks from an array of digital device makers showcasing their device production journeys and the challenges they experienced therein. The devices discussed included temperature monitors for newborn babies, assistive games for children with disabilities and wearable cameras aiding people with memory impairments.  

Check out the video below to watch one of the talks from the day, presented by pro² Steering Group member Steve Hodges of Microsoft Research.

We also enjoyed talks and device demonstrations from people who had found or are working on innovative ways to make the digital device production journey easier, including systems, processes, tools and components designed to make prototyping and scaling up easier and more accessible.

We got great feedback from the event with many attendees saying that they appreciated the time they had to talk to others interested in this field and get ‘hands-on’ with exemplar devices. The event was also a key opportunity for the pro² team to learn more about how we could be useful, and what our activities and funding calls should be focused on.

We will be looking to organise our next event soon. Please register as a member if you want to be notified of events, updates on activities and funding opportunities.