Robotics Innovation Showcase 2026 - From potential to progress

The University of Manchester's Centre for Robotics and AI runs its annual showcase of what the UK robotics programmes it works with have moved forward in the last 12 months, with a strong lean towards nuclear decommissioning, fusion maintenance and net-zero infrastructure. Professor Duncan Ivison, the university's President and Vice-Chancellor, gives the keynote. The first panel, chaired by Michael Fisher, has Paul Addison (Department for Business and Trade), Rav Chunilal (Sellafield), Gareth Llewellyn (Northern Gritstone), Duncan Steel (Amentum) and Jenni West (Health Innovation North-West Coast). The second, chaired by Kirsty Hewitson, has Rob Buckingham (UKAEA), Clyne Albertelli (Co-Lab Engineering), Rit Chandra (BIST) and Louise Dennis (University of Manchester). Runs 09:00 to 16:30. Free, but places are limited: without an invitation code, registering is an expression of interest and the organisers confirm places separately. Why go: the North's densest room for people deploying robots into hard environments, with Sellafield, UKAEA, Amentum and a deeptech investor all on stage. Best for robotics engineers, deeptech founders and anyone selling into nuclear or energy.