Shortlisting success for top knowledge exchange programme

UWS has received a total of five nominations for the prestigious Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards.  

The awards – now entering their seventh year – mark the biggest celebration of knowledge transfer between industry and academia in Scotland. The awards not only recognise exceptional work, they also provide an opportunity to showcase some of the game-changing innovation that stems from these important partnerships.   

Professor Milan Radosavljevic, Vice-Principal of Research, Innovation and Engagement at UWS, said: “I am incredibly proud of our KTP programme, which continues to go from strength to strength. The robust partnerships that we have forged with our business partners, coupled with our KTP Associates, and the incredible team of academics we have in-house, is helping to deliver innovative solutions to real-world problems.

“It’s wonderful to see so many of UWS’s KTP projects shortlisted for an award, and recognises the hard work and determination from everyone involved.”

UWS, which ranks number one in Scotland by size of its KTP portfolio, has been shortlisted in the following categories: 

• Innovation of the Year, for a collaborative KTP project with Touch-less Hygiene UK Ltd – embedding microbiology expertise into the company to facilitate the design, development, testing and launch of the next generation of microbial disinfection and decontamination technology. 
  
  
• Innovator of the Future, Dr Daniel Melia, KTP Associate, for his collaboration with Helia Photonics – developing a high-precision robotic system, to automate stacking ultrathin semiconductor bars into jigs, significantly reducing losses due to product damage and increasing process throughput. 
  
  
• Making an Environmental Difference, for a KTP collaboration with Baxters Food Group – embedding waste and process management knowledge and expertise, helping reduce their environmental footprint.
  
  
• Knowledge Exchange Heroes, Dr Marco Gilardi, is a UWS academic, active in the KTP programme. Dr Gilardi researches software and design tools for interactive graphics and extended realities for training and education, with an interest in multimodal interaction, producing 13 publications and a patent application. He led a highly successful project with The Scottish Crannog Centre, designing an innovative immersive gallery that exploits Augmented Reality technologies. 
  
  
• Making a Social Difference, for a partnership with Alzheimer Scotland to create and deliver a new and transformative online workforce development course. 

The Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards 2022 take place online on Thursday, 17 March, 3pm to 4.30pm.