Image: Mirko Sobotta/Shutterstock
A total of six gongs were handed out for the Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI) Impact Awards, with six universities named among the winners.
Each year, the Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI) organisation holds its Impact Awards as part of its remit to help businesses to benefit from access to expertise and technology, by connecting and engaging with Irish-based researchers.
The awards consist of an international judging panel made up of industry leaders and experts in knowledge transfer who last night (26 April) announced the winners across six different categories.
For its work with Enbio to help the company develop a novel thermo-optical coating to reflect radiation and protect spacecraft, University College Dublin (UCD) was awarded the Collaborative Research Impact Award.
Meanwhile, the Consultancy Impact Award went to University of Limerick (UL) for its development of a software application for the company Xtract 360, which recreates a car crash in real time to alleviate issues with undetected fraudulent insurance claims.
Dublin City University (DCU) was awarded the Licence2Market Impact Award for a licence that has helped Iconic Translation Machines, a leading language technology software company, to launch the world’s first patent specific translator.
TCD researcher celebrated
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) was named as the winner of the Spin-out Company Impact Award for its work with SurgaColl, a venture-funded medical device company that supplies novel tissue-regeneration products for surgical treatment built using RCSI technology.
The Dublin Institute of Technology’s (DIT) Hothouse programme was presented with the Knowledge Transfer Initiative Award for devising a strategic inbound marketing strategy aimed at increasing industry awareness of its knowledge transfer offering.
But it wasn’t all about the institutions, as one of the most coveted awards of the night – the Knowledge Transfer Achiever Impact Award – went to Dr Emily Vereker, TCD’s senior patents and licensing manager, for the development of new patent management as well as sharing the TCD approach to patent portfolio management more widely within the sector.
Congratulating the six first prize winners, Dr Alison Campbell, director of KTI, said: “[The awards are] an opportunity for us to demonstrate the wider impact of knowledge transfer. The projects celebrated at the awards are addressing societal challenges, as well as creating economic value.”
The full list of finalists is below, with winners in italics.
Collaborative Research Impact Award
- Teagasc collaborating with Dairy Concepts Ireland
- UCD collaborating with Enbio
- UL collaborating with EJ Access Solutions
Consultancy Impact Award
- DCU and Irish Life Health
- UL and Xtract 360
- Waterford Institute of Technology and Sulzer Pump Solutions Ireland
Licence2Market Impact Award
- DCU for machine learning software licence to Iconic Translation Machines
- NUI Galway for management information software and copyright licence to Qpercom
- UCD and TCD for genetic testing patent licence to Plusvital
Spin-out Company Impact Award
- DCU and Ambisense
- NUI Galway and NVP Energy
- RCSI and SurgaColl
Knowledge Transfer Initiative of the Year Award
- DIT Hothouse
- RCSI
- University College Cork on behalf of Bridge Network Consortium
Knowledge Transfer Achiever Impact Award
- Dr Emily Vereker, TCD’s senior patents and licensing manager
Updated, 1.58pm, 27 April 2018: This article was updated to include the correct winner of the Licence2Market Impact Award.
