The shortlist for the sixth Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards has been announced.

The latest round of the awards, designed to celebrate the exchange of knowledge between businesses and academics in Scotland, received a record-breaking number of entries this year.

Minister for Trade, Innovation and Public Finance Ivan McKee said: “The Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards, organised by Interface, act as an excellent tribute to the outstanding achievements of all those working across industry and academia.

“This event also highlights the crucial role that innovation can play, especially in these challenging times for business, in building sustainable economic growth and increasing productivity.

“I’d like to congratulate all the nominees who have rightly been recognised for their tremendous work throughout the year.”

A total of 24 different nominees will vie across eight categories, each dedicated to highlighting a different way that business and academia have shared expertise between each other.

The finalists were chosen by a specially selected panel of judges who were looking for collaborations that show innovation, impact (societal or economic) and transformation, along with recognising the people contributing to knowledge exchange.

Covid-19 Collaborative Response

• Aqualution Systems Ltd., Duns, and University of Edinburgh for the implementation of an automated manufacturing solution, rapidly increasing production of an effective disinfectant to fulfil demand in response to the COVID19 emergency.
• The Lighthouse Laboratory in Glasgow, a major new Covid-19 testing facility by BioClavis Ltd, University of Dundee and University of Glasgow where NHS staff, frontline workers and the wider public with suspected Covid-19 infections are tested.
• NHS Scotland/NHS Lothian, Moredun Research Institute and SRUC for setting up a testing node to detect SARS-COV-2 using a RT-PCR based test to help expand the national NHS testing capacity.

Innovation of the Year – sponsored by Marks & Clerk

• Phoenix Instinct Ltd., Forres, and University of the West of Scotland for the development of the world’s first-ever SMART, ultra-light weight, manual wheelchair.
• Scotmas Group Ltd, Kelso, and Robert Gordon University for the development of a new and innovative method of producing disinfectants without harmful by-products for use in hospitals, water supplies and food production applications.
• Scottish Trust for Underwater Archaeology (The Scottish Crannog Centre), Loch Tay, and the University of the West of Scotland for revitalising the centre by designing an innovative immersive visitor experience integrated with the physical space and exhibitions.

Making a Difference

• Denis Law Legacy Trust, Aberdeen, and Robert Gordon University for developing and growing a Streetsport programme, aimed at reducing anti-social behaviour, into a multi-levelled programme supporting over 18,500 disadvantaged young people to attain positive destinations.
• NHS Highland, through Caithness General Hospital, and University of the Highlands and Islands, with a cross-sector partnership, for reducing the environmental impact of healthcare practices, promoting responsible water use and management.
• Scottish Leather Group (SLG Technology), Bridge of Weir, and Edinburgh Napier University for the development of new, high value products and processes using sustainable materials, which have significantly impacted on manufacturers, as well as contributing to education, and art.

Powerful Partnership

• Cobb Vantress, a global poultry genetics business, and University of Edinburgh have worked together since 2013 focusing on ensuring a sustainable global poultry industry across animal welfare, disease resistance, food security and preserving biodiversity.
• Sublime Digital, Glasgow, and University of Glasgow, have partnered since 2018 to create a virtual reality learning platform ‘Edify’ that allows students to access the benefits of virtual reality teaching from home without the need for high specification VR hardware.
• Thales UK and University of the West of Scotland have collaborated since 2015 to develop ground-breaking AI technology, which could save lives by identifying missing people and providing warnings about buildings at risk of collapse.

Multiparty Collaboration

• Aquaculture Genetics Alliance – the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute, University of Stirling, Hendrix Genetics, and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science to identify and breed salmon with resistance to viral disease.
• The Scotland 5G Centre – University of Glasgow, University of Strathclyde and Scottish Futures Trust helped support Scotland’s role as a global leader in communications innovation.
• The Scottish Capsule Programme (SCOTCAP) – Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre, Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, NHS National Services Scotland, NHS Highland, NHS Grampian, NHS Western Isles, Medtronic, Corporate Health Internal, University of Aberdeen and University of Strathclyde. The collaboration was tasked to co-design, deliver and evaluate the use of a “Pillcam” containing a digital camera as a viable, safe, and cost-effective alternative to colonoscopy.

Knowledge Exchange Champion

• Professor Sir Michael Ferguson CBE, FRS, FRSE, FMedSci, FRSB, University of Dundee, was appointed the first Regius Professor of Life Sciences in 2013.
• Professor Malcolm Macdonald, University of Strathclyde, is instrumental in the development of Scotland’s space sector and its successes.
• Professor Lis Neubeck, Head of Cardiovascular Health in the School of Health and Social Care at Edinburgh Napier University.

Knowledge Exchange Heroes

• Lisa Farrell, Business Development Officer, University of Stirling. Lisa has taken a holistic approach to increasing knowledge exchange, engaging tirelessly with internal teams and external organisations to ensure mutual learning between industry and academia, and to foster continuous dialogue.
• Gary Hogan, Knowledge Exchange Manager, Robert Gordon University. As part of the Business and Economic Development Department, Gary has played a pivotal role in significantly increasing knowledge exchange activity.
• Dr Andrea Taylor, Head of Business Development, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, the University of Edinburgh. Andrea is passionate about Knowledge Exchange and a relentless champion of her knowledge exchange team.

Innovator of the Future

• Dr Abdo Alnabulsi, Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Associate, from the University of Aberdeen, who collaborated with Vertebrate Antibodies Ltd, Aberdeen, for his work to identify and characterise novel cancer biomarkers leading to a greater understanding of tumour progression and commercially valuable bio-tools.
• Dr Jakub Rycerz, KTP Associate, from the University of the West of Scotland, who collaborated with Phoenix Instinct Ltd, Forres, on the design and manufacturing of a SMART, light-weight carbon fibre wheelchair frame integrating electronic systems.
• Dr Fraser Stewart, KTP Associate, from the University of Strathclyde, who collaborated with Fathom Systems Ltd, Portlethen, on developing and integrating wearable health technology for deep sea divers into hyperbaric lifeboat monitoring systems, and a new ventilator system.

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All the winners will be announced online at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards Ceremony on 21st April 2021.