• water efficiency
• waste reduction, reuse and recycling (including the development of recycled products and markets for those products)
• energy efficiency
• manufacturing or production process efficiency

Supply chain processes and the development or improvement of innovative or alternative products, technologies or services that contribute to improved resource efficiency will also emerge through these partnerships.

Enhancing the business environment for the employment of graduates is one of our key aims and we are confident that KTPs support this. It is often the case that Associates involved in KTPs are offered employment, and businesses acquire a good appreciation of the benefits both of employing graduates and access to the knowledge base.
We intend to use our KTPs as case studies to further promote the business benefits of knowledge transfer activities in the South West.

KTP scoops three out of four awards in the annual Lord Stafford Awards

Three KTP projects from the West Midlands were recognised for their innovative collaborations in the 2007 Lord Stafford Awards. The Impact through Innovation Award was won by Metallisation Ltd, which worked with Aston University to develop a pioneering spray gun that prevents corrosion and significantly increases the lifespan of materials.

The Achievement in Innovation Award was scooped by Morgan Motor Company. The Malvern-based outfit which manufacturers 175 Aero 8 and 475 Classic cars, is making the most of a series of KTPs with the University of Central England’s ‘Technology Innovation Centre’ to add over £3 million of new sales and boost the development of future models.

The initial success enjoyed by Morgan on the first KTP has led to further projects, which have secured £500,000 cost savings through the implementation of new manufacturing techniques and a renewed focus on model introductions.
The latter, that involved a design graduate from the University of Central England, resulted in the design and production of a new four-seater car that made its debut at the 2006 Geneva Motorshow.

The Knowledge Transfer Champion Award was won by Rob Harris at the University of Wolverhampton for his outstanding work in helping companies develop new technologies for commercial applications. One of his biggest successes has been in the field of KTP and to date, he has developed 18 KTPs and has provided the academic expertise on seven of these.

Robert said:

"I am very pleased to have won this award. It is in recognition of the team work in the University of Wolverhampton Business School in developing knowledge transfer activities. We now have the top Business School in the country for delivering KTPs."

Lord Stafford, Patron of the Awards, said:

"The Lord Stafford Awards exist to showcase the excellent work that is going on in businesses and Universities to innovate and develop new products and processes. Having an idea is one thing, but making it happen and making money from it is another. Each of the winners have, in their own way, shown true excellence and are worthy Lord Stafford Award winners."

Commenting on the awards, Nick Ward, Regional Development Manager for KTP in the West Midlands, said:

"The fact that three of the award category winners were related to KTP clearly demonstrates the importance of this TSB support programme to enterprise and innovation in the West Midlands. KTP directly contributes to two of the four key pillars of the region’s economic strategy, namely Developing a Dynamic and Diverse Business Base and Promoting a Learning and Skilful Region.
As a result of KTP, right across the region, universities and businesses are involved in cutting edge partnerships that are helping to transform its economy. Currently, 78 companies are benefiting from collaboration with the regional knowledge base and new capabilities are being embedded in such diverse areas as business process re-engineering, new product design, ICT development, sustainable urban design, and the optimisation of wastewater treatment."

The Cutty Sark Trust is an independent charity that aims to conserve, maintain and display the world’s sole surviving tea clipper, the Cutty Sark. Built in 1869, the ship was fully restored in the 1950s and is permanently installed in a concrete dry dock in Greenwich, London.

The Trust worked with the University of Greenwich to deliver this KTP which aimed to transfer Finite Element Analysis (FEA) skills/technology to help guide the Cutty Sark’s conservation, and to establish this capability within the organisation as a marketable service for the other historic ships.

Serious structural problems had previously been identified in the Cutty Sark and the Trust knew that a major conservation programme was needed to prevent any further decay, but feared that the very act of restoration could endanger the ship.

Working with the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Greenwich, the Trust was able to successfully develop and validate FEA techniques to preserve the ship whilst minimising the risks of endangering it.

The Trust hopes to use its new-found capabilities to help perverse other historical vessels.

Results

• FEA technology established as a tool to aid conservation work
• Optimised dismantling and reassembly procedures, minimising risks to the structure
• Better planning of conservation programme, reducing costs by £500,000
• Marketable in-house knowledge on applying FEA techniques to aged composite structures

P J Mason, Chief Engineer at the Cutty Sark Trust commented:

"The University’s work has been invaluable in giving us insights into how complex and weakened structure of the ship carries its loads into the new steel support system, and hence to the dock walls."

Click here to read the 'Cutty Sark Trust' PDF

Name: Michelle Far
Qualifications: BSc in Management Science; Master of Philosophy in Knowledge Transfer
Current position: Studying for a PhD in Social Policy at Bath University

My KTP with Bath and North East Somerset NHS Primary Care Trust and Bath University concerned the development of performance management systems. This meant assessing how staff understood and looked at their performance, comparing this with organisational and national performance indicators, and developing performance indicators that integrated the two. The project needed to be applicable to everyone in the organisation, so I interviewed staff in various areas to gain an understanding of how they approached their work and how they rated performance in comparison with how the Trust measured performance. I also investigated areas such as staff job satisfaction, motivation and how staff reflected on and improved working practices.

The highlights for me were developing and conducting the research and running the training courses. It was very interesting to develop research that has a practical outcome and is useful to an organisation. That was facilitated directly by the KTP - having one foot in each camp, so to speak. It’s very much a partnership.

The great thing about being a KTP Associate is having the balance between the academic and commercial sides. Having the resource of the University to call on, as well as the practical support, was very important to me. The personal development side is good too. KTP offers a good supportive package as a whole.

KTP helped me to define my career direction. I wanted a different experience, but I wasn’t sure what. KTP opened up a lot of doors for me, and gave me opportunities I’m not sure I’d have had otherwise. My KTP experience helped me to obtain funding for my PhD. It’s given me a lot more scope for developing my career.

I am now a full-time student. My KTP experience has helped me to develop my PhD and I would like to try and get some of the work I did on my KTP published. Ultimately, I’d like to get into an academic career.

KTP provides one of the best opportunities I’ve seen in the graduate market. It gives Associates a lot of opportunities, a lot of options, and a lot of support along the way.

Click here to see my profile as PDF

KTP Awards Honour Business Achievement

Eighteen of Northern Ireland’s most dynamic and innovative small firms have been honoured at this year’s Northern Ireland’s KTP awards event, held in Belfast’s Hilton Hotel.
Companies from sectors as diverse as construction, software engineering, electronics, ambient advertising, civil engineering and more took part in the prestige business gala.

Guest of honour at the event - hosted this year by the University of Ulster - was Leslie Morrison, Chief Executive of Invest Northern Ireland, who said:

"If our economy is to continue to grow, it is important that we make use of the high standard of academic excellence in local universities and colleges in order to foster a culture of innovation.

The partnerships honoured by these awards have shown that not only is this kind of collaboration academically valid, but it can significantly improve a company’s profitability in what is an increasingly competitive global marketplace."

Congratulating the winners, associates and partners on their awards, Professor Bernie Hannigan, Ulster’s Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, said:

"Real companies achieve real improvements in their business bottom lines by participating in KTP. The scheme applies knowledge and expertise from the university to drive business innovation. Every KTP partner is a winner."

Partnerships that received awards at this event include:

Are You Sitting Comfortably?

New design capabilities are bringing early benefits for North Cornwall’s Zoeftig & Company Ltd which has been designing and manufacturing a wide range of stylish, robust and durable contemporary furniture products for the contract market for over 35 years. Zoeftig designs and assembles seating and table products at its Bude site, and the product range includes seating for passenger facilities such as airports, rail and bus terminals, and leisure industry furniture for bar, restaurant and café interiors.
Building on its successes, Zoeftig turned to the University of Plymouth’s KTP team to help it source new expertise in advanced materials such as polymers and composites for component and structural design. With the appointment of BA (Hons) Furniture Design and Craftsmanship graduate, Charlie Fowler in January 2007, research has already been carried out into the latest developments in materials, processing and manufacturing in determining possible solutions and techniques for new product development.

A design brief and detailed product specification have been formulated to allow greater flexibility in various configurations of passenger terminal seating arrangements to meet customer requirements appropriate for todays rapidly expanding airport market. Zoeftig’s order books are filling for 2008, seeing an increase in sales of approximately 15%. The new product range will not only enhance the company’s reputation amongst existing clients, but will inevitably attract new clients, ensuring a firm platform for future growth.

Ian Coates, Director at Zoeftig & Company Ltd commented,

"With the ongoing support and expertise from the University of Plymouth, we are delighted with the progress Charlie is making, in particular, developing a design brief and detailed product specification to meet the demand for our new product range."

West of Scotland KTP Centre -Sesquicentennial Achieved

February 2006 marked the first ten years of the West of Scotland KTP Centre in Glasgow. Set up as the West of Scotland TCS Centre for small firms, it has seen a huge change in the last decade. When the centre first started, Scotland had only 33 projects, or 6% of the total. Scotland now has a network of three Centres and an office in Tayside, together boasting up to 120 projects and 11% of the total.
Elaine Wallace from the centre comments:

"This had been a fantastic ten years - we have assisted a very diverse range of companies and academics, and helped to facilitate their partnerships into exciting KTP projects. I attend the Local Management Committee meetings that oversee each project, and enjoy seeing at first hand the results and benefits as they accrue during the project. It has also been interesting working with sponsors, especially the Scottish Executive, and also the KTP Programme Team at AEA."

In the past ten years, the West of Scotland KTP Centre has facilitated over 155 projects, to the value of £16.5M, and has engaged with its eight HE partners. The biggest participant has been the University of Strathclyde with 92 projects funded, and the Centre hopes soon to have a project submitted with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

"This has been one of the most rewarding and enjoyable jobs I have had in my long academic career,” says manager Dr David Brown. “Although I am a mechanical engineer, I have had to tune my 'techno babble' to work with the whole range of academic disciplines - a challenge but with great outcomes."