Two interdisciplinary teams of Ulster University academics travelled to the Vox, Birmingham on 27 November to attend the 2024 KTP Awards, where they won both the ‘Best Management KTP’ award and the ‘Future Leaders Award’.
Best Management KTP Award
A Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between a team of academics from Ulster University Business School and the School of Engineering, along with Heron Bros, was awarded ‘Best Management KTP’ on the night.
The academic support team consisted of Professor Trevor Cadden, Professor Wesley McKnight, Professor Ronan McIvor; Michael Bell (KTP Associate), and company supervisor Ryan McLaughlin.
The project was applauded for implementing invaluable management capabilities enabling the company to achieve its growth objectives, allowing it to focus on operational excellence, utilise business intelligence, and introduce a continuous improvement philosophy that now underpins the company’s ambitious objectives over the next five years.
Earlier this year, The Heron Bros KTP was awarded ‘Outstanding’ by Innovate UK – read more at this link.
Future Leaders Award
Kate Turley, KTP Associate and PhD researcher, was awarded the ‘Future Leaders’ Award for her innovative work developing a daylight-simulating luminaire for people with dementia.
Kate and company partner, Chroma Lighting, have been supported on the project by an interdisciplinary team of academic supervisors; Professor Raymond Bond (School of Computing), Professor Maurice Mulvenna (School of Computing), Dr Joseph Rafferty (School of Computing), and Professor Assumpta Ryan (School of Nursing and Paramedic Sciences).
During the KTP, the team received approval to test their solution in a local care home with tangible benefits reported by care home workers on the lives of people with dementia in their care. This important work will carry on through Kate’s PhD studies sponsored by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.
Read an interview with Kate and more about her research at Shining a Light on Dementia Care.
Tim Brundle, Director of Research & Innovation, said:
“My wholehearted congratulations to both teams recognised at the KTP Awards in Birmingham last week for their hard work and innovation. The projects were led by innovative interdisciplinary teams and ably supported by our KTP team. Each exemplifies the impact that can be created in both the economy and individual lives when research is applied in business and the community.”
Ulster University has established an excellent track record in helping Northern Ireland businesses grow and flourish through exciting KTP collaborations that have delivered strategic, transformational step changes in productivity, market share and operating process.
The KTP Awards highlight the achievements of the best of over 800 collaborations between universities and private companies that occur across the UK each year. Knowledge transfer partnerships allow for forward-thinking businesses to partner academics within an institution to develop innovate solutions that shape the future of UK innovation.
Find out more
Learn more about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships at Ulster University.