On Thursday 19 February 2026, Technology Scotland officially launched its new Special Interest Group (SIG) “Manufacturing & Fabrication for Critical Technologies” under the initiative of the Scotland’s Critical Technologies Supercluster.
Manufacturing and fabrication underpin all critical technologies, enabling the transition from early-stage concepts and research outputs to commercial products and market adoption. The launch of this SIG reflects the growing recognition that a coordinated, ecosystem-wide approach is essential to strengthen Scotland’s capabilities in this area.
Interest in the event was overwhelming. Tickets sold out within the first two hours of public registration, clearly demonstrating the strong demand for collaboration and dialogue across the manufacturing and fabrication landscape. The room brought together a highly diverse audience, including senior participants from industry, academia, government, and infrastructure organisations.
Following an initial networking opportunity over coffee and tea, the SIG formally opened with remarks from Elena Kniazeva (Senior Programme Manager, Technology Scotland). Elena outlined the goals of the SIG and emphasised why this is a particularly timely moment to initiate deeper conversations around Scotland’s manufacturing ecosystem and its role in supporting critical technologies.
The first part of the event featured best-practice presentations from brilliant speakers representing multinational manufacturing organisations: Travis Scott (Finetech) and Andy Price (STMicroelectronics).
Travis Scott focused on advanced packaging and integration, presenting insights into the latest trends, emerging market drivers, and the evolving needs of the sector. He also introduced Finetech’s latest equipment capabilities and highlighted recent technological developments supporting high-precision manufacturing and integration.
Andy Price’s presentation centred on scaling to mass manufacturing. He offered practical insights into the key questions that must be addressed when planning for scale-up and shared perspectives from STMicroelectronics’ product development flow. Andy also emphasised the importance of collaboration and a strong community approach in building a resilient and competitive manufacturing ecosystem in Scotland.
Both presentations sparked lively discussions among participants, reflecting the strong engagement and shared interest in addressing common challenges.
The second half of the event was dedicated to two facilitated discussion sessions.
The first discussion focused on identifying key bottlenecks within Scotland’s manufacturing and fabrication landscape. Each table was tasked with identifying five major bottlenecks, highlighting missing technical capabilities or facilities, and proposing realistic and actionable solutions.
The second discussion centred on scale-up challenges. Participants were asked to identify one primary barrier to scaling up manufacturing, analyse why this barrier leads to failure, examine why it exists within Scotland, and develop proposals for addressing it.
These discussions generated valuable insights and reinforced the need for stronger coordination and a unified voice for manufacturing and fabrication within the critical technologies ecosystem. Participants highlighted opportunities for shared infrastructure, improved access to facilities, the importance of increasing the international profile of the Scottish ecosystem, enhanced collaboration between academia and industry, and clearer pathways to commercialisation.
After a productive programme, participants were rewarded with lunch and engaging networking opportunity. A dedicated roundtable session with Finetech representatives was also held for a limited number of interested participants
We are extremely grateful to all speakers and participants for their contribution. We now look forward to translating the insights gathered into concrete actions that will strengthen manufacturing and fabrication capabilities in Scotland and support the continued growth of its critical technologies ecosystem.
We’re pleased to confirm a second meeting of this SIG will be scheduled in May.