After a tough winter season that saw the UK battered with successive storms, ice and snow, the Cold Comfort Scotland conference line-up promises to be one of the most vital and exciting in years.
Taking place at the Macdonald Inchyra Hotel in Falkirk on 7 April, the conference and exhibition will feature some of the biggest names in winter maintenance.
Transport Scotland, National Highways, the Welsh Government and the National Winter Service Research Group will all be speaking on a conference line-up that will also feature insights on grip testing from the world of Formula 1 and the inaugural winner of the Highways Award for winter service.
The morning's keynote speech will be delivered by Douglas Cairns, Traffic Scotland operator manager, Transport Scotland, who will give delegates an exclusive briefing on the technologies Transport Scotland has brought in over the past 12-18 months to improve situational awareness.
Another star turn promises to be Neil Sturrock, senior organisational resilience advisor at Dumfries and Galloway, who will be discussing the creation of the world’s first multi-platform digital communications strategy for winter weather.
Next up will be Dr Campbell Waddell, managing director of R3 Ltd, who analyses the latest grip research and how it can inform winter service with reference to his laboratory research and experience working on Formula 1.
Two senior figures in National Highways' National Winter & Severe Weather Team will close the conference with a technical overview and latest updates on the government-owned company's groundbreaking Weather Information System.
As well as talks on cutting edge digital innovations in rapid impact assessment, risk and liability in winter service and the latest training there will also be an inspiring talk from Laurence Madges, highway resilience manager Wales.
Mr Madges will share his experience from a long career at the top of winter service in Wales, including the innovations he brought in and lessons he learned.
