ENGINEERING academics and business leaders from across the world are heading to Sunderland this year for a specialist maintenance conference held in the UK for the first time.

Taking place at the University of Sunderland, the two-day Maintenance Performance Measurement and Management (MPMM) Conference will cover areas from engineering concepts, optimisation of equipment and energy efficiency to the impact of the global recession on the maintenance industry.

Two previous conferences have been held in Sweden, attracting delegates from Canada to Australia, and as a result of links between the university’s Institute for Automotive & Manufacturing Advanced Practice (AMAP) department, it was decided to bring the 2012 event to Sunderland’s Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter’s.

Maintenance applies engineering concepts to achieve better maintainability, reliability, and availability of equipment.

Dr David Baglee, project manager and senior lecturer in the university’s faculty of applied sciences, will chair the conference. He said: “We are delighted to be hosting this highly specialised conference for the first time in the UK.

“There will be a range of topics discussed and papers presented to our international delegates, from improving your business through to better maintenance, to saving on manufacturing costs, training issues and energy efficiency.

“The conference will also help to showcase the excellent research carried out within the university, and in particular AMAP. It’s because of our reputation within this sector and the professionally high standards we work to which have global reach, that we were asked to host the conference.”

Regional companies connected to the maintenance and engineering industry will be supporting the conference, setting up stalls which promote their products and services in the North East.

The conference takes place September 11-13.

Log on to http://centres.sunderland.ac.uk/mpmm/