blur Group, Flybe and the University of Exeter’s Physics School to speak at ExIST Quarterly Event

The Chamber’s Exeter initiative for Science and Technology will be welcoming speakers from blur Group, Flybe and the University of Exeter’s Physics School at its October event on Wednesday 9 October at the Met Office.

Jon Hogg, head of platform at blur Group will be giving a presentation on business sense and how blur Group is using intelligence to transform services procurement. Global technology firm blur Group recently announced that it will be establishing its new ‘R&D Center’ and global headquarters in Exeter’s Science Park in November. The company announced they are moving to Exeter as they found it to share many characteristics with the tech-centric Silicon Valley.

Stefan Kontorravdis, director of engineering at Flybe will be talking about Flybe’s aircraft connectivity. The airline is now using low cost technology including iPads, iridium and 4G to aim to integrate the aircraft as a network component. Flybe holds one of Europe’s largest regional aircraft maintenance facilities at its base in Exeter. Over the last two years, Flybe have invested over £1.2bn into creating a young and environmentally friendly fleet, and £15 million in maintenance facilities. 

Dr Alasdair Allan, a scientist, author, hacker and tinkerer will be giving a presentation on the Inevitability of Smart Dust. Alasdair will explore the evolution of general purpose computing, sensors, and wireless networking – to a future where millimetre-scale sensors and little flecks of computing power, form a massive, pervasive, and distributed network. Dr Allan has authored books on iOS programming, sensors and distributed networks; he also writes for MAKE magazine and O’Reilly Radar and is a senior research fellow and part of the Astrophysics Group in the School of Physics at the University of Exeter.

Robert McIlwraith, Chair of the ExIST group and board director of Exeter Chamber, said “It‘s always great to get such brilliant science and technology speakers on board to speak at our ExIST events, and this one is sure to be no different. I urge science and technology organisations to make sure they join us at this event at the Met Office for what is sure to be a fascinating set of presentations.”

If you would like to attend this event please contact the Chamber Office on 01392 431133 to book your place or visit www.exeterchamber.co.uk. For further information on this event and future events visit www.existexeter.co.uk.