By Melissa John

If I had to name one prestigious event in Europe that could get technology experts, car lovers, motorsport racing enthusiasts and aerospace fans to gather excitedly in the same location, Goodwood Festival of Speed would immediately come to mind. Held once a year in the beautiful West Sussex countryside, everyone and everything that has a stake in the automotive and technology world gathers here to celebrate motorsports and racing.

This year, Incus had the amazing opportunity to attend and support media relations on behalf of our client, 3D printing/additive manufacturing leader, Stratasys. The ‘Future Lab’ Pavilion, which premiered at this year’s festival, was dedicated to vehicles and technologies of the future. Alongside Stratasys, the exhibition space showcased some jaw-dropping future innovations from some of the world’s leading automotive companies. While many technologies are currently in the design and test phases, prototypes and pop-up modules allowed visitors to marvel at the technological possibilities of tomorrow.

Stratasys, exhibiting in the Future Lab by invitation of the event’s host, Lord March, used the opportunity to showcase its advanced 3D printing technology, with demonstrations of the multi-material, multi-color J750 3D printer and the FDM F123 3D Printer series.

Tasked with designing and 3D printing the 2017 Goodwood trophy together with renowned designer Nick Ervinck, Stratasys also exhibited collaborations with McLaren/Honda F1 and electric aircraft manufacturer, Eviation. This eco-friendly commuter plane will take to the skies for short-haul flights for nine people, enabling air travel for the price of a train ticket.

We were very excited by many of the other companies and projects exhibited in the Future Lab, including some amazing technologies that we had to share.

A real eye-catcher is the Robocar, the world’s first driverless electric race car, developed by Roborace. Currently in development and testing, this (mostly) carbon-fiber, futuristic racing machine owes its sleek design to Daniel Simon, known for working on Hollywood Blockbusters such as Tron: Legacy, Oblivion and Captain America. Able to reach speeds exceeding 300kph, it has four 300kW motors and is preparing to participate in next year’s Goodwood race.

The idea of a flying car has long captured the imaginations of many, so we were thrilled that several different companies exhibited their flying car concepts in the Future Lab Pavilion. Amongst them was PAL-V, a gyrocopter that unfolds rotors from a car, and VRCO’s NeoXCraft, a quadcopter where the aircraft’s propellers turn into car wheels upon landing.

The most futuristic design was put forth by Italdesign and Airbus, who showcased a quadcopter flying car concept in which a driving pod and flying quadcopter can connect to form a flying vehicle. The fully autonomous and electric Pop.Up design aims to speed up transportation from A to B, enabling drivers to bypass busy roads and traffic.

With the power to change transport, aerospace and automotive industries far beyond flying cars alone the Future Lab technologies introduced at Goodwood are certainly ones to watch in the coming years. To read more about Stratasys’ involvement at Goodwood, click here.