On 21 October 2026, HBK, VI-grade and HORIBA MIRA welcomed more than 90 automotive professionals to the UK Smart Prototypes Summit at HORIBA MIRA in Nuneaton, United Kingdom.
The event brought together engineers, technical specialists and industry leaders from across the UK automotive community for a day of technical presentations, live demonstrations, knowledge sharing and networking, exploring how simulation, physical testing and engineering data can be connected to enable smarter and more efficient vehicle development.
As automotive engineering teams face increasing pressure to reduce physical prototypes, improve correlation between simulation and testing, and accelerate development processes, the UK Smart Prototypes Summit provided a platform to exchange experiences and explore innovative approaches to these challenges.
The program featured expert presentations from Nissan, Bentley, JLR, McLaren, HORIBA MIRA, HBK and VI-grade, offering insights into real-world applications of virtual development, vehicle dynamics, NVH, durability, reliability and engineering-data management.
In addition to the technical presentations, attendees had the opportunity to experience advanced driving simulation technologies, explore software solutions and connect with industry peers.
The event highlighted the importance of bringing together virtual and physical engineering workflows to support better-informed development decisions and reduce reliance on physical prototypes.
Time | Session |
08:30–09:00 | Registration & Welcome Coffee |
09:00–09:20 | Welcome Speech – Smart Testing | HBK | Alessio Lombardi |
09:20–09:40 | Virtual Tyre Evaluation | Nissan & HORIBA MIRA | Leo May & Stratos Stratoudakis Download Slides |
09:40–09:55 | Acoustic Digital Prototype Evolution at Bentley | Bentley | Simon Noble Download Slides |
09:55–10:10 | Bentley Torcal Secondary Ride Comfort Development | Bentley | Paul Kennings Download Slides |
10:10–10:30 | Engineering the Full Spectrum – The Evolution of VI-grade Driving Simulation | VI-grade | Stefano Bernini Download Slides |
10:30–10:50 | Coffee Break |
10:50–11:10 | Enabling the Development of Smart Prototypes by Utilising HORIBA MIRA’s Virtual Durability Process | HORIBA MIRA | Craig Cochrane Download Slides |
11:10–11:30 | From Testing to Insight: The Future of Reliability Validation | JLR | Andrew Brown |
11:30–11:50 | Fatigue Results Are Not Just A Number | McLaren | Pete Lavelle |
11:50–12:45 | Lunch Break |
12:45–14:45 | Rotating Demo Sessions & HORIBA MIRA Facility Experiences |
14:45–15:05 | Coffee Break |
15:05–15:45 | Panel Discussion | Steve Williams & Panelists |
15:45–16:00 | Closing Remarks | HBK & VI-grade | Steve Williams & Vivian David |
A big thank you to all attendees, speakers and partners who contributed to the success of the 2026 UK Smart Prototypes Summit.
Special thanks to HORIBA MIRA for hosting the event and to all presenting companies for sharing their expertise, experiences and insights.
We look forward to continuing the conversations and collaborations sparked during the summit and to bringing the automotive engineering community together again at future Smart Prototypes events.
This will bring together HBM, Brüel & Kjær, nCode, ReliaSoft, MicroStrain and Discom brands, helping you innovate faster for a cleaner, healthier, and more productive world.
