SEVENTY delegates attended a conference aimed at engineering good relations between the county's manufacturers and science-based companies.

The event, held at the University of Greenwich at Medway, attracted leading businesses such as Aylesford Newsprint, BAE Systems, Alenia Marconi, Delphi Diesel Systems, Cummins Power Generation and Babtie Group.

They took the opportunity to share research results and explore ideas and opportunities for collaboration with academics and researchers at the university.

Professor Ndy Ekere said: "Within the School of Engineering we undertake a great deal of ground breaking research and are eager to strengthen our ties with the local business community to examine opportunities for commercial co-operation."

The conference focused on solids handling and materials properties; intelligent manufacturing systems; electronics materials, manufacturing and assembly systems, as well as computing and communications engineering.