Big Potatoes co-author Martyn Perks is convening a series of debates at the Battle of Ideas 2012 in the Making it in the 21st-century strand which is exploring the future of manufacturing. And we are sponsoring the Engineering design or design engineering? session, in which our Manufacturing Workgroup convenor, Paul Reeves, is also speaking.
The Battle of Ideas takes place 20-21 October at the Barbican Arts Centre in London, and offers two days of high-level, thought-provoking, public debate organised by the Institute of Ideas. The debates are convened by Martyn Perks, and Paul Reeves, principal software designer at Dassault Systèmes-SolidWorks R&D.
Session titles and speakers follow. Tickets for the Battle of Ideas can be booked online:
Manufacturing: the great comeback?
Speakers: Andrew Bergbaum, director, AlixPartners; manufacturing industry consultant; Peter Marsh, manufacturing editor, Financial Times; author, The New Industrial Revolution: consumers, globalization and the end of mass production; James Matthews, management consultant; founding member, NY Salon; writer on economics and business; Mike Wright, executive director, Jaguar Land Rover
Gas galore? Fracking and the future of energy
Speakers: Stephen Bull, vice president, Statoil (US onshore operations); Fiona Harvey, environment correspondent, Guardian; Professor Hywel Thomas, pro vice-chancellor, International and Engagement, Cardiff University; fellow, Royal Academy of Engineering
Engineering design or design engineering?
Speakers: Kerry Kirwan, deputy head of materials and manufacturing and strategic director of the International Doctorate Centre at WMG, University of Warwick; Dr Natasha McCarthy, head of policy, Royal Academy of Engineering; author, Engineering: a beginner’s guide; member, Forum for Philosophy, Engineering and Technology steering committee; Kevin McCullagh, founder, Plan; visiting fellow, Northumbria University; Dr Paul Reeves, principal software developer, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks R&D; former senior researcher, International Automotive Research Centre, University of Warwick
Water, water, everywhere: not allowed to use it
Speakers: Chris Binnie, independent water consultant; member, ICE Water Expert Panel; fellow, Royal Academy of Engineers; Dr Caspar Hewett, water resources environmental consultant; director, The Great Debate; David Lloyd Owen, managing director, Envisager; author, The Sound of Thirst; Andy Wales, senior vice president, sustainable development, SABMiller
Commons people: music in a digital age
Speakers: Helienne Lindvall, award-winning professional songwriter; musician; music and media columnist, Guardian; Alan Miller, co-director, NY Salon; co-founder, Londons’ Truman Brewery cultural center; Andrew Orlowski, executive editor, The Register; assistant producer, All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace; John Waters, columnist, Irish Times, Irish Mail on Sunday, The Irish Catholic and Tracce/Traces; author, Feckers and Was It For This? – Why Ireland Lost the Plot