Edinburgh Napier University’s Innovation Hub is pleased to be supporting CeeD Scotland to host a high‑energy TradingZone™ pitching event on Wednesday 27 May, bringing together industry, innovators and researchers to explore new opportunities in advanced through‑life product development.
Running from 10am to 3pm at our Craiglockhart Campus, this interactive session is designed to spark practical conversations, surface shared challenges and build collaborations that can accelerate new ideas into real‑world impact.
Connecting research with industry needs
TradingZone™ thrives on diverse expertise, making this an ideal opportunity for academics across the University to engage directly with industry challenges and innovation priorities.
While the themes have strong relevance to engineering and technology, they also intersect with areas such as sustainability; human behaviour; design; data; business models; health; creativity; and user experience.
What the session will explore
The TradingZone™ will focus on Advanced Through‑Life Product Development, including:
- AI assisted product design and optimisation
- Design and development of novel materials
- Sustainable design, including energy usage, reusability and recycling
- Human centred design, usability and safety
- Digital twins for design validation, monitoring and optimisation
- Advanced manufacturing workflows
Application areas include medical devices, wind turbines, engines, bicycles and wider engineering systems.
Whether you are researching emerging methods, developing new technologies or exploring how innovation can be applied in practice, this event offers a space to test ideas, gain insight and build connections.
What makes TradingZone™ different
TradingZone™ is not a conference and not a networking session. It is:
- Open discussion
- Live problem‑solving
- Collaboration and partnership building
The aim is to identify and develop business and innovation opportunities, especially where collaboration can help ideas move faster and further.
Who can take part and pitch?
This interactive event is open to industry, academia, innovators and problem‑solvers across Scotland, and we are encouraging ENU academics from all Schools to get involved.
CeeD are looking for 12 pitches in total, and we would like to see strong representation from Edinburgh Napier, so please consider putting an idea forward.
Your pitch can be at any stage of development. Examples include:
- An early‑stage idea needing insight or validation
- A research project seeking industry partners
- A product or service looking for customer channels
- A technical challenge requiring specialist expertise
- A start‑up seeking collaborators or co‑founders
- A more developed opportunity seeking investors or customers
No idea is too early or too advanced – variety strengthens the day.
To be considered as a Speed Pitcher, contact Josie Deacon at: j.deacon@ceed-scotland.com
You do not need to be a CeeD member to take part in this event, it is open to all!