AFBELIVE 2024 Conference: celebrating diversity and inclusion success

Dr Ollie Folayan MBE, co-chair of AFBE-UK Scotland

Social enterprise AFBE-UK is to hold its second exhibition and conference to celebrate its diversity and inclusion success across the country. 

Around 600 people are expected to attend AFBELive 2024, which will take place on Tuesday, April 23 at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London.

The theme for the event is The Future of Engineering: Human Centric Solutions and this year’s host is Julianna Moats, system safety interface engineer at High Speed Two (HS2).

The event will include discussions on AI and ethical implications, labour income inequality, skills transfer and the energy transition, company culture and inclusion and mental health and psychological safety. There will also be numerous networking opportunities.

Scotland-connected industry speakers include Paul de Leeuw, director of the energy transition at Robert Gordon University; Dr David Leiper, company medical officer at Harbour Energy; Edafe Onerhime, executive director and intelligent automation lead at JPMorgan Chase & Co; Dushyant Sharma, strategy implementation lead at bp and Ibim Diri, transition programme manager at AFBE-UK. 

Dr Nike Folayan MBE, Dr Awai Collins-Harrison and Dr Ollie Folayan MBE, co-chairs of AFBE-UK, will deliver speeches on the inspiration behind the AFBELive conference and growth of AFBE-UK. Ollie is also the chair of Aberdeen-based AFBE-UK Scotland, which was established in 2011. 

David Olusoga OBE, a British-Nigerian historian, author, and BAFTA-winning filmmaker, will be a keynote speaker at the event. Other speakers include Caroline Nokes, MP for Romsey and Southampton; Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE, CEO of Royal Academy of Engineering; Dr Gopichand Katragadda, president of the Institution of Engineering and Technology; Tariq Shah OBE, CEO of Vigo Group and Saif Malik, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank.

Dr Ollie Folayan MBE, co-chair of AFBE-UK Scotland, said: “We are thrilled to continue our journey of celebrating achievements and advancing diversity and inclusion in the engineering and technology sectors. It has been tremendous to witness the growth of our membership over the last year as well as the enthusiastic participation of companies and individuals.

“This conference serves as a prime platform for fostering connections, sharing insights and nurturing collaboration that drive positive change within our industries.”

The Next Big Idea competition will take place during the conference where three students and three professionals will pitch their business idea to judges in a process similar to the BBC TV programme Dragons’ Den.  

As well as £500, £300 and £200 gift certificates, the winner will receive personalised entrepreneurial mentorship to bring their idea to fruition.

AFBE-UK is delighted the following companies have chosen to sponsor the event: Amazon, Cisco Meraki, Harbour Energy, Wood plc, Mott MacDonald, Leonardo, Microsoft, Petrofac, The Institution of Engineering and Technology, the Royal Academy of Engineering, Oracle Red Bull Racing, National Grid, Standard Chartered Bank, GSK and others.

A banquet dinner is also being held in the evening with a performance from award-winning saxophonist, Yolanda Brown OBE.

There are a number of sponsorship opportunities remaining and more information can be found at: https://afbelive.com/partners/

The event runs from 8am to 10:30pm on Tuesday, April 23 (2024) at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, London. 

Tickets for the day-time conference start from £85 for AFBE student members, and £135 for non-members. Tickets with dinner included start from £122 for AFBE student members and £195 for non-members. Corporate bulk conference tickets are also available for 10 people and are priced at £1,250 for the conference and £1,900 for the conference with dinner included.

Tickets are available from the AFBELive website: https://afbelive.com/register/

About AFBE-UK Scotland

AFBE-UK Scotland, first launched in 2011, is part of AFBE-UK, which is based in London and founded in 2007. AFBE-UK Scotland provides mentoring programmes to support young people with their STEM careers. This includes its schools programme NextGen, where industry leaders and professionals give advice to pupils through entertaining events; Transition, where industry leaders help aspiring engineering professionals to enter the job market; and Real Projects, where industry professionals share their knowledge and expertise. 

AFBE has more than 2,500 members across the UK and 80 corporate organisations. It is supported by various industry partners and government bodies.

For more information, please visit: https://www.afbescotland.org

Press release issued on behalf of AFBE-UK Scotland by Kate Cruickshank, senior communications advisor at Engage PR.