Pioneers across industries are applying cutting-edge technologies to forge new solutions to some of the biggest challenges of our time; a greener economy, food security, advanced healthcare, humanitarian aid, smarter cities. The Conduit, Julius Baer, and UKII are bringing together some of the UK’s most visionary breakthrough innovators for an evening of inspiration, exploration, and hands-on experiences.

Leaders across technology, industry and policy will share how breakthrough innovations have the potential to drive real change, while a live showcase will invite guests to connect directly with some of these radical advancements––from smart support systems in hospitals to the robots tasked with catching space junk.

Discover the technologies shaping the future and meet the people making it happen.

Event Schedule

6:00pm: Networking and interactive exhibits

6:30pm: Panel discussion begins

7:30pm: Panel discussion ends, stay for more networking and interactive exhibits

This event, presented in collaboration with impact partners Julius Baer, is part of the How We Live Tomorrow series and follows our previous discussion on Future Cities: Building Sustainable, Inclusive Communities.

Speakers:

Dr Nicola Millard, principal innovation partner at BT Business. Nicola is a researcher, consultant, and award-winning speaker with a PhD from Lancaster University. She has worked across futurology, AI, usability, and marketing, contributing to key BT innovations such as the application of AI in BT’s call centres. A TEDx speaker and mentor at Cambridge Judge Business School, she has also appeared on BBC programmes like Woman’s Hour and Tech Ten.

Lucy Johnston, Founder, UKII. Lucy is a curator and communicator dedicated to promoting stories of the companies and pioneers working at the forefront of innovation across industry sectors ranging from food security, health tech and clean energy to humanitarian aid, ocean research and the space economy. Lucy is the founder of the UKII (UK Innovation Industries) task force, an online platform and nationwide roadshow of events and exhibitions profiling 1000s of stories of entrepreneurial activity and championing innovation and talent across the UK industry ecosystem.

Andrew Faiola is Commercial Director at Astroscale. Andrew joined Astroscale in January 2023 to lead the business development, sales, and marketing functions in the UK as the company expands to make in-orbit servicing and debris removal routine by 2030, and delivers on its vision for safe, secure, and sustainable development of space for the benefit of future generations. He is a senior leader with over 20 years’ experience growing revenue across the satellite communications and space industries. He was previously VP EMEAAP Sales at ALL.SPACE, leading sales and business development for all commercial and global government segments.

Jamie Burrows is the founder and CEO of Vertical Future. Jamie is British/American health economist with a background in healthcare, life sciences, and economic regeneration. Prior to establishing Vertical Future in 2016, Jamie worked in EY’s EMEIA Life Sciences team, transitioning from a similar role at Deloitte where he was also seconded to the Department of Health. Jamie is educated up to PhD level, primarily in Economics, sits on the Board of The Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Alliance, is a member of Barclays’ “Unreasonable” Fellowship, and Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society of England.

Moderated by Dr Jessica Wade, Royal Society University Research Fellow and Lecturer in Functional Materials at Imperial College London. Broadly speaking, her research considers new materials for optoelectronic, spintronic and quantum devices, with a focus on chiral molecular materials. She was previously an Imperial College Research Fellow in SPIN-Lab at Imperial, which is led by Professor Sandrine Heutz. She worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Fuchter and Campbell groups at Imperial College London, where she optimised these chiral systems such that can absorb/emit circularly polarised (CP) light for CP OLEDs and OPDs. For her PhD Jess concentrated on organic photovoltaics and the development of advanced characterisation techniques to better understand molecular packing under the supervision of Dr Ji-Seon Kim. Outside of the lab, Jess is involved with several science communication and outreach initiatives. She is committed to improving diversity in science, both online and offline, and since the start of 2018 has written the Wikipedia biographies of women and people of colour scientists every single day.

Interactive Exhibits:

Vertical Future is a global leader in Controlled-environment-agriculture (“CEA”). Focused on three core pillars of plant science, intelligent software, and integrated technology systems development, VF is currently the #1 independently ranked CEA technology company globally (FoodTech 500, 2013), is #1 in grant research wins in the UK and holds membership of international groups including the World Economic Forum, World Green Economy Organisation, and the Barclays’ Unreasonable Impact Programme.

Astroscale  is the first private company with a vision for the safe, secure, and sustainable development of space for the benefit of future generations. As a global leader in In-Orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing (ISAM), Astroscale offers innovative fleet management and removal solutions to satellite operators to enable a circular economy in space.

SatVu captures high-resolution thermal data from space, using infrared technology for real-time monitoring. Supporting climate resilience, security, and economic insights, it enables critical action towards net-zero, with its first satellite launched in June 2023.

Konpanion is innovating a sensory hub platform integrating robotics, active sensors, and passive sensing artifacts to map and understand the home environment. This Sentient Living ecosystem supports assistive living, mental health care, IoT, and personalised services, unifying well-being, companionship, and smart living in one seamless system.

Atlantic Productions, founded in 1992, is a multi-award winning independent factual production company and pioneer in immersive storytelling. Atlantic’s award-winning television, theatrical films and immersive experiences have been seen in over 150 countries. Atlantic is respected for its unparalleled access and is leading the way in the new era of immersive storytelling.