KTP Best of the Best Awards 2020 Winners Announced

A special Virtual Ceremony attended by nearly 500 guests online, presented by KTN in partnership with Immerse UK (led by KTN’s Asha Easton) and Laval Virtual last night saw winners of six categories revealed for outstanding impact from Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs).

Celebrating the exceptional outcomes of KTP collaborations – which bring together academic teams and companies – the event was hosted by Senior Knowledge Transfer Adviser, Fiona Nightingale, and featured presentations from KTN’s CEO, Dr Alicia Greated, and Innovate UK’s Interim Executive Chair, Dr Ian Campbell (both appearing as avatars).

“At KTN we are committed to shaping innovation communities of the future, which is exactly what made these awards so inspiring! Not only are our Knowledge Transfer Partnership winners actively bringing research into commercial business environments, but they are also bringing new ways of thinking, diverse experience and varied skill sets together to make a meaningful difference in building a sustainable economy and society.” – Dr Alicia Greated

The Ceremony took place in Laval’s virtual Auditorium where hundreds of customised avatars gathered, joined by more guests watching the event live on YouTube (recording available here).

Winners of six, hotly contested, categories were announced as follows:

Best KTP

The winner of this Award is for the most outstanding KTP – the partnership which exceeded all expectations as set out in the original proposal, and which demonstrated significant benefits to all three partners. The Winner is:

Aquacheck Engineering/  Manchester Metropolitan University/ Dario Chiantello.

This KTP has revolutionised the traditional standpipe – something we all rely on for our water supply – by using IoT to turn it into a smart, connected device, which delivers invaluable insight into water usage.

As a result of its KTP, not only has a state of the art device been developed, but the whole culture of the company has been transformed, as is so often the case via KTP.

Future Innovator Winners (for KTP Associates)

supported by Ashorne Hill

Leona McGirr: Creating an Antibody Library for fully human antibodies.

Muddasar Anwar  Innovation for Sustainable Drainage System to prevent flooding.

Declan Bryans: Creating greener energy with innovations in flow batteries.

Mark Gilmore: Developing a new class of greener, ionic liquid.

Khai Nguyen: Inventing a new silicone composite for fixing brand, Sugru.

Dmitry Bogachov: Advancing Materials Science for Anilox technology.

Harvey Kangley: Delivering exceptional NPD in rail electrification.

Elle Perschke: Applying B2C methodologies in a B2B company.

Business Impact Award

SBS Insurance / Birmingham City University/ KTP Associate Jade Watts 

Creating positive digital disruption in the insurance claims sector.

Societal Impact Award

supported by UKRI

Inspire Workplaces / Ulster University / Gillian Cameron

Innovative, web-based platform offering access to mental health screening and support

Most Effective KTP initiative from a KTP team

supported by Praxis Auril

Aston University for their work in developing a Computer Science Industry Club 

Engineering Excellence

Masonry Support Systems / Queen’s University Belfast / Emanuale Scarabino 

Design of calculation suite model for masonry support system which eliminates human error and delivers the output of 9000 man hours in just 60 seconds

Congratulations to all our winners and Finalists. Here they are all celebrating on stage together!

About KTP

Now in its 45th year, KTP is one of the most successful and established knowledge exchange programmes, bringing new discoveries to market, creating hundreds of graduate jobs each year and delivering innovative solutions to societal problems. 

Right now around 800 organisations, 100 university departments and over 800 graduates (known as KTP Associates, who act as the KTP project manager) are involved in KTPs, creating positive change and driving innovation. Approximately 300 new roles for KTP Associates become available every year as new KTPs are funded, making it one of the largest graduate recruitment platforms in the UK.

The KTP programme is now complemented by the Management KTP (mKTP), with a specific focus on improving management  effectiveness via collaborations with UK Business Schools. mKTP is funded by the UK Government department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) through Innovate UK.

KTPs are funded by UKRI through Innovate UK with the support of co-funders, including the Scottish Funding Council, Welsh Government, Invest Northern Ireland, Defra and BEIS.

Funding competitions for KTP and mKTP are open throughout the year.