The Engineering Academics Network Annual Congress is the flagship event of the EPC each year and at Strathclyde 2026, our theme is ‘Evolution or revolution’. We will be examining whether incremental change in engineering education is enough to make it fit-for-purpose in the face of significant global and sectoral challenges – or whether engineering education now demands something more radical.
Here is a rundown of our keynote sessions.
Keynote 1: Engineers 2030: the future talent to provide solutions in a complex world
Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Chair, Scottish Enterprise
17th June @ 09:40 – 10:20
Sir Jim will outline why immediate, systemic change is essential to equip the UK with the engineering and technology skills needed for a sustainable future. He highlights the long‑standing challenges in attracting, training and retaining engineers, alongside persistent issues in diversity, education pathways and green‑skills capacity. Sir Jim sets out opportunities to redefine engineering knowledge, skills, behaviours and career routes, emphasising that meaningful progress depends on coordinated action across government, industry and academia. Sir Jim will be awarded the 2026 EPC President’s Prize.
Keynote 2: AI: No Easy Path – Hard Truths and High Hopes
Professor Philip Hanna, Dean of Education, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast
17th June @ 14:15 – 14.45
Three years into the generative AI era, this talk reflects on what we’ve learnt about its impact on teaching, learning, assessment, future skills, and our programmes. AI is powerful but double-edged, and people decide how it is used. Drawing on cognitive science, assessment research, and global labour market evidence, the session explores why banning AI isn’t viable, why a retreat to traditional exams isn’t the answer, and what it takes to prepare graduates for a workplace being rapidly reshaped by AI. The core message is one of agency: we can make AI work for us and avoid its harms, but only by challenging some long-standing aspects of how we educate. None of this is optional. The environment will keep evolving, and inaction is itself a decision. Shaping a positive future means engaging with these hard truths now, proactively and together.
Keynote 3: Research and innovation evolution
Tom Adeyoola, Executive Chair, Innovate UK
17th June @ 16:00 – 16:30
As the pressures on engineering higher education intensify, this session asks a provocative question: what radical evolution is needed to transform the relationship between universities and industrial innovation? Drawing on insights from Innovate UK, Tom will explore how engineering departments can rethink research, knowledge exchange, and partnership models to meet the demands of a rapidly shifting innovation landscape. Expect candid reflections, constructive challenges, and fresh perspectives on how engineering HE can move beyond incremental improvement toward bold, systemic change. This session invites delegates to imagine new ways of working with industry — and to consider what it will take to get there from here.
Keynote 4: Evolution or revolution in a changing global landscape
Claire McPherson, Director, Universities Scotland
18th June @ 09:10 – 09:45
We will hear Universities Scotland’s policy response to what is vital to ensuring the continued international success of our universities and the significant contribution they make to economic growth and social justice within Scotland.
Paul Sheerin, Chief Executive, Scottish Engineering will be closing Congress with a final keynote too (#5) – we are eagerly awaiting details of his talk but it will be forward thinking and a positive end to Congress!
With discounted member tickets, and sponsored early career staff spaces remaining, the professional development on offer is a steal. Where else can you get so much for so little?
Bookings are now being taken for EAN Annual Congress. Tickets and further information here.
