Aston University celebrates KTP award winners and lands three national shortlistings

Aston University has named the winners of its annual Knowledge Transfer Partnership awards, and is itself in the running for three national honours at the forthcoming Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership Awards.

The university's showcase, held at its city centre campus on 14 October, brought together more than 200 people from industry, academia and innovation. The event has now been running for ten years.

What is a KTP?

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships link a business or organisation with a university and a talented graduate, known as an associate, who works inside the business on a specific project using the university's research and expertise. The aim is to help organisations develop new products, services and ways of working, and to turn research into real-world results. Aston describes itself as an award-winning, sector-leading provider of KTPs.

This year's winners

Three awards were presented on the night:

Siva Sankari Sivakaminathan, working with the law firm Harper James, won the prize for best AI technologies.

Simms Adu, at Labskin, which is developing lab-grown immune cells, won the science, health and engineering prize.

Zeba Khadhijah, working with Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, won the award for top management project.

Three national nominations

The celebrations come as Aston has been shortlisted in three categories at the national Innovate UK KTP Awards.

The university's KTP team is shortlisted for excellence in knowledge exchange support. It is the third time in four years the team has been nominated in that category, and it won the national award in 2023.

Professor Ben Clegg is shortlisted for academic excellence in innovation. And a partnership between Aston, the University of Cape Coast and Tropical Starch Company Limited is nominated for the place-based innovation impact award, for developing cleaner, off-grid solar-thermal drying methods for processing cassava in Ghana.

"Turning new ideas into tangible outcomes"

Professor Colin Grant, vice-chancellor and chief executive of Aston University, said: "Aston University has a proud track record of translating research into innovation, growth and real-world impact. The projects recognised at this year's showcase demonstrate the power of collaboration between businesses, academics and associates, and the important role that Knowledge Transfer Partnerships play in turning new ideas into tangible outcomes.

"I am delighted that this success is also being recognised nationally through Aston's three nominations in the forthcoming Innovate UK KTP Awards. Together, they reflect the strength of Aston's partnerships and our commitment to supporting innovation-led growth across the region and beyond."

The guest speaker at the showcase was Richard Lamb, programme manager for KTPs at Innovate UK, who spoke about the role the partnerships play in the UK's innovation system and Aston's long-standing contribution to the programme.

For Birmingham, the awards are a reminder of how the city's universities work hand in hand with local employers, from law firms to the NHS, to put research to work.