Conferences
04-06 March 2025
4th ESA Workshop on Advanced Manufacturing
Experts from TWI Ltd will be attending the 4th ESA workshop on Advanced Manufacturing, which will include promotion of the aims of the ESA Technology Broker UK.
The three-day event, which is taking place at the European Space and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, from 4-6 March, is taking the central theme of the use of advanced manufacturing as an enabler of Europe’s ambitions in Space. The workshop will address emerging technologies that open up new industrial possibilities in terms of design freedom and streamlined production, while enhancing product performance and reducing cost.
TWI’s experts will deliver several presentations during the event, including those related to cold spraying, non-destructive investigation for additive manufacturing, and linear friction stir welding.
There will also be updates on the latest status of ESA-funded research and technology development activities, and round table discussions outlining the future direction of advanced manufacturing in Europe.
You can find out more and register to attend, here:
4th ESA Workshop on Advanced Manufacturing
Meet the team
Vito Di Pietro
Growth Manager, Space
Vito Di Pietro is an engineer in the manufacturing industry, working on bridging the gap between market and research. He has a master degree in Electronic Engineering from the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy. He coordinated several international research projects on innovative technical solutions, and helped companies developing and implementing digital manufacturing processes.
Vito started working at TWI Ltd. in 2020 as Senior Project Leader, working on friction welding and electron beam welding and their implementation in production. Today, he works as Growth Manager, Space, in Business Development at TWI.
Dr Pedro de Sousa Santos PhD IEng AWeldI
Advanced Manufacturing Engineer, FWP
Pedro is working as an Advanced Manufacturing Engineer in TWI’s Friction Welding and Processing section, managing client relationships and the delivery of projects involving friction welding technologies, predominantly for the aerospace and space sectors. Due to his experience in engineering projects, Pedro is affiliated with the Engineering Council and The Welding Institute. As an active STEM ambassador, he frequently presents and supports workshops on engineering related topics to audiences ranging from Year one to sixth form students.
Dr Ian Nicholson
Technical Consultant and Business Development Lead
Dr Ian Nicholson is technical consultant and Business Development lead at TWI Technology Centre (Wales). He is a chartered engineer with over 30 years’ industrial experience in systems integration for automated NDT, microelectronics, sensor and software development and technical project management. Ian spent his early career in industry as a software and hardware engineer working both in the UK and The Netherlands for different SMEs and LEs. Ian has overseen the development of a number of novel NDT prototype systems for non-destructive inspection and evaluation.