IMC42 Brings Manufacturing Leaders and Researchers Together in Belfast
The 42nd Irish Manufacturing Conference (IMC42), co-organised by the Irish Manufacturing Council and Queen’s University Belfast, took place on 10-11 September 2026 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The conference provided an important platform for researchers, industry professionals and policymakers to exchange ideas, share knowledge and discuss the latest developments shaping the future of manufacturing engineering and education.
Circumstances arising from significant global events spanning politics, the environment, socio-economic factors and global health now mean that the manufacturing sector needs to be better equipped to manage shock events. Solutions lie in technical and process-based innovations in manufacturing planning and execution as well as improved understanding of the broader supply chain. The theme for this year’s conference is ‘Resilient Manufacturing: Technologies & Strategies for Operational Continuity in an Uncertain Operational Landscape’.
The plenary sessions opened at 10.00 am on 10 September at the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (AMIC), Global Point, Newtownabbey. The programme featured a series of plenary and technical sessions, alongside networking opportunities and a guided tour of AMIC’s state-of-the-art facilities.
Day one welcomed Professor Geert Dewulf, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast, who addressed delegates during the opening session. The conference also highlighted the significant contribution of the Re-Imaging Engineering Design (RIED) team, with seven papers presented by members of the wider RIED network: Michael Murphy, Caitlin Sands, Yinghao Cheng, Simon Hickinbotham, Alex Pritchard, Zhenyuan Qin and Thomas McCaughtry – see the table below. These will be available in our RIED website Library pages once the Conference Proceedings are published by MPDI.
RIED leadership was strongly represented throughout the event, with Professor Mark Price and Professor Yan Jin contributing as invited speakers and sharing insights from their respective areas of expertise.
IMC42 once again demonstrated the strength of collaboration between academia and industry, creating valuable opportunities for discussion, knowledge exchange and the development of solutions to the complex challenges facing modern manufacturing.
