Hot Topic event on Autonomous Vehicles and Delivery Robots: Innovation or Public Safety Problem?
About
Join the IET London Young Professionals Network for an engaging Hot Topic event exploring the future of autonomous vehicles and delivery robots.As autonomous technology continues to develop, self-driving vehicles, pavement delivery robots and intelligent transport systems are moving from concept to reality. These innovations have the potential to improve mobility, reduce delivery costs, support accessibility and transform how people and goods move through our cities.
However, they also raise important questions around public safety, regulation, ethics, cyber security, liability, accessibility and trust. How safe is safe enough? Who is responsible when something goes wrong? How do we balance innovation with the needs of pedestrians, road users and local communities?
This event will bring together speakers from industry, research and engineering to discuss the opportunities and challenges of autonomous vehicles and delivery robots. Through short presentations and a live Q&A, we will explore what engineers, technologists, policymakers and the public need to consider as these systems become part of everyday life.
Whether you are a student, apprentice, graduate, young professional or experienced engineer, this event is an opportunity to learn, ask questions and join the conversation on one of the most exciting and debated areas of emerging technology.
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Continuing Professional Development
This event can contribute towards your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours as part of the IET's CPD monitoring scheme.
24 Sep 2026
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Organiser
- London Local Network
Speakers
Rory Daniels
Head of Emerging Technology & Innovation - techUK
Rory leads techUK's Emerging Technology & Innovation team, working with many of the UK's most innovative tech companies to convene experts and decision-makers, showcase best practice, shape government's thinking, and ensure the UK leads on developing and deploying transformative technologies.
The team's main areas of focus are AI Innovation, Quantum, Semiconductors, Robotics, Photonics, Neuromorphic, Innovation Policy, and Technology Convergence.
Rory sits on DBIST's expert Robotics Advisory Group, hosts techUK's Meet the Innovators video interview series, and chairs techUK's Emerging Tech Leadership Committee, comprising 36 senior leaders from the UK's most exciting tech companies. He has also hosted London Tech Week's Deep Tech Stage, completed Stanford University's Tech & Entrepreneurship residency, and given oral evidence in a House of Lords Select Committee.
Chris Smith
VP of Hardware Engineering - Starship Technologies
Chris Smith is VP of Hardware Engineering at Starship Technologies, leading the team behind the world's #1 fleet of autonomous delivery robots, machines already making millions of real deliveries. An MEng in Electro-mechanical Engineering from the University of Southampton and a Member of the IET, he has spent his career at the sharp end of autonomous systems, with earlier roles at Dyson and BAE Systems spanning consumer electronics, defence and aerospace. A passionate systems thinker and people leader, he loves turning bold ideas into safe, reliable products that ship at scale, and bringing engineering to life for audiences of every kind.
Reasons to attend
Anyone interested in autonomous systems, robotics, transport, mobility, AI, safety, regulation, smart cities, ethics, cyber security or the future of engineering.
Programme
18:00 - Registration
18:30 - Welcome
18:35 - Speaker 1: Chris Smith, VP of Hardware Engineering, Starship Technologies
18:55 - Break
19:10 - Speaker 2: Rory Daniels, Head of Emerging Technology & Innovation, techUK
19:30 - Audience Q&A
19:55 - Closing