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Headline Story - KTP Awards 2008 |
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This year’s KTP awards event was hosted at the Church House Conference Centre, London, on the 5th March. The event celebrated KTP’s Winning Partnerships and awarded high calibre Associates the prestigious ‘Business Leaders of Tomorrow’ accolade.
The day began with a bustling networking session, including lunch and exhibitions from the Technology Strategy Board, Resource Efficiency KTN, Chemistry Innovation KTN, Industrial Mathematics KTN and Environment KTN, plus the award winning partnerships.
Tony Mitchell and Fiona Nightingale, KTP Advisers, officially opened the awards event. This was then followed by the keynote speaker, Jonathan Kestenbaum, Chief Executive of NESTA, The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, and Board member of the Technology Strategy Board.
Congratulating the winners, Jonathan commented:
“If businesses and universities do not work together on innovation, the UK will face a very uncertain future. Our competitiveness depends on them sharing the rich base of knowledge they produce. The winners of these awards have seen some dramatic results which prove the importance of this.”
To present on the KTP experience, from an Associate's point of view, the awards event was delighted to hear from James Robbins. James became a KTP Associate in 2002, in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University and Arena Housing Association. After a hugely successful three year KTP, James was head hunted, and he currently holds the post of Head of Information Services at Northern Rail.
Presentations were then made to the six ‘Business Leaders of Tomorrow’, who were recognised as individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and project management skills. Details of the winners are as follows:
Working in partnership with Sue Ryder Care Direct Ltd and The University of Northampton, Stewart Betts was involved in researching, planning and implementing a new product design methodology by designing 3D novelty giftware products, decorative items and toys.
Robert Gee worked in partnership with Eden Farm Ltd and the University of Durham. He was singly responsible for investigating and implementing processes which, as a result, have seen Eden Farm Ltd secure incremental business worth over £4 million that would not have been possible otherwise.
Working with Morgan Motor Company Ltd and Birmingham City University, Matthew Humphries progressed beyond what was expected of him to meet the aim of implementing an in-house capability for concept design, visualisation and refinement to enable the rapid development of new vehicle designs.
Hareesh Kallambella worked to optimise the current manufacturing methods at Jones Stroud Insulations Ltd in partnership with the University of Central Lancashire. He identified excellent commercial opportunities and delivered significant results, which have helped turn the management of the company around.
Working with University of Wolverhampton and Chamois Furnishings Ltd, Gareth Richards’ KTP involved working to implement a strategic business infrastructure to achieve growth of 50% over the next five years.
Helen Thornton worked with The University of Manchester and Bradford and Airedale Teaching Primary Care Trust to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Trust’s logistical assets.
To present on the company's perspective of KTP, the event was delighted to welcome Dr Andy Tasker as guest speaker. Andy is Chief Executive of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, one of 47 Wildlife Trusts throughout the UK dedicated to nature conservation and environmental education. Andy is also Chief Executive of the Trust’s subsidiary consultancy company, Middlemarch Environmental Ltd, now one of the top six biodiversity consultancies in the country. To date, Middlemarch Environmental Ltd has been involved in five KTPs, ranging from Biodiversity Action Plans, engineering and business systems management.
Recognised for the quality of achievements gained from their KTP projects, there were nine award-winning partnerships and three special awards. Award Winning Partnerships included:
Arriva Passenger Services Ltd and Cranfield University that scooped the ESRC sponsored award for achieving a £1 million reduction in insurance claims, a 6.5% reduction in the number of fault accidents and staff absenteeism reduced by about a third.
Blairs Ltd and the University of Strathclyde for a partnership which created 82% increased manufacturing capacity.
Bournemouth Churches Housing Association and Bournemouth University for their KTP that delivered robust Performance Management models.
Briton Engineering Developments Ltd and the University of Bradford for a KTP which examined the mechanical capabilities of the world-renowned ski and snowboard surface Snowflex and involved the Associate, Simon Stewart, designing and building a rig which would match real slope conditions.
Caledonian Aerotech Ltd and Heriot-Watt University. A first in the history of the programme, this KTP was awarded a Winning Partnership award, the Engineering Excellence award and also the Best Partnership programme, as well as the Associate winning a Business Leader of Tomorrow award in 2006.
The Cutty Sark Trust and the University of Greenwich for a KTP that was a key aspect of the £20 million+ conservation project to save the ship as a future major visitor attraction in London.
Fusion Antibodies Ltd and Queen’s University Belfast for a KTP that examined the protein production processes employed by the company and made innovations in order to permit the more efficient and scaled engineering of target proteins.
Goodlife Foods Ltd and Manchester Metropolitan University. As a direct result of the KTP, the company achieved over 60% increase in new markets and a 40% increase in sales. In addition, two new staff have been employed, ten staff have been trained and the company brand has been greatly enhanced.
Gower Businesses Systems Ltd and Gorseinon College for a project that facilitated the development of a detailed marketing function.
Heales Medical Ltd and the University of Hertfordshire for their KTP which led to the first really robust and objective stress assessment process and from which around £500,000 of additional company turnover has been attributed to the project.
For more information about the day, visit the KTP Annual Awards at: http://www.ktponline.org.uk/
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Sponsor’s Perspective - Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
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BBSRC
Dr Simon Cutler is an Innovation Programme Manager within BBSRC’s Business & Innovation Unit and has been a KTP Board Member for six years.
BBSRC is the UK's leading funding agency for academic research and training in the non-clinical life sciences, with a current budget of £400 million. Put simply, we fund research in plants, microbes, animals (including humans), and tools and technology underpinning biological research.
Over many years, BBSRC has led several innovative approaches to maximising the economic and social impact of the research we fund, and encouraging the translation of intellectual property and expertise into real products and processes. We have pioneered a number of successful and complementary activities, ranging from the awareness-raising Biotechnology Young Entrepreneurs Scheme and time-out Enterprise Fellowships, to more traditional activities to support collaborative research programmes such as LINK and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships.
BBSRC’s involvement in the KTP programme spans almost two decades, funding 73 completed and 12 current Partnerships. BBSRC favours KTPs that transfer knowledge and ideas generated by high quality research originally supported by BBSRC, and therefore the vast majority of our Partnerships should demonstrate follow-on from, or connectivity to, BBSRC-funded research. The Partnerships involve collaboration between the knowledge base and bio-based industries (both large and small), including the agricultural, food, pharmaceutical and chemical sectors.
We are also keen to support Post Doc KTPs, aimed at 'ready made' Partnerships which are already collaborating through a CASE/Industrial CASE studentship, to provide the opportunity for an already identified Associate to embed the outcomes of their research work into the partner company. For standard KTPs, BBSRC prefers to support projects that intend to recruit post-doctoral researchers as KTP Associates.
Whilst the number of Partnerships submitted from the biosciences recently has been less than previous years, BBSRC is still keen to promote growth in this area - often through shared funding with the Technology Strategy Board - and support many more KTPs in the coming years.
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Regional Spotlight - Welsh FE Embraces KTP and Wins an Award |
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 The further education (FE) colleges in Wales are increasingly embracing the opportunities that KTP provides to their organisations. From a small beginning, there were 32 active KTP projects running this year involving six FE colleges. Back in 04/05, there were just two FE colleges and 16 KTP projects.
Gorseinon College is a FE college in Swansea, which has a reputation for high quality educational provision and whilst it delivers mainly A Levels and Vocational courses, knowledge transfer has become a specialism. In fact, the college has been involved in close to 40 KTP projects on its own, with a broad range of companies throughout South and West Wales.
Whilst Gorseinon College has led the way, it was recognised that barriers to involvement in KTP existed to the wider FE colleges and so the Welsh Assembly Government decided to invest via a mentoring project.
Dr Jarmila Davies from the Welsh Assembly Government explained why this was needed:
“The Welsh Assembly Government is fully supporting the FE sector to become more involved in KTP projects and as a result, significant resources have been allocated to develop and embed the required process within the FE institutions to deliver these projects.
“It has been recognised by the team of knowledge transfer specialists within the Welsh Assembly Government that the internal infrastructure available to support KTP was not robust enough to enable effective delivery of KTPs, although there is a great deal of enthusiasm for it across the sector.
“Extensive consultations were carried out with the FE and HE sectors in Wales, and it was concluded that the most effective way to create this infrastructure would be to engage a few experienced KTP practitioners from Higher Education Institutes and Gorseinon College. The KTP Mentoring project was born.
“The main objectives of the KTP Mentoring project were to reduce the perceived barriers for the FE colleges to participate in the programme and to develop HE/FE partnerships that would facilitate creation of the KTP delivery strategy in FE institutions. This was achieved by partnering FE colleges with the experienced HE and FE partner.”
Funding for the project was secured from the Welsh Assembly Government’s Knowledge Exploitation Fund and the lead institution managing the project was the University of Glamorgan. The Welsh Assembly Government knowledge transfer team provided strategic oversight for the project.
Jarmila continues:
“It is very gratifying to see that Wales has now nine FE colleges that are actively engaged in KTP and their support for the KTP programme is steadily growing.
“The Welsh Assembly Government wishes to congratulate all FE colleges for their dedication and commitment to make the KTP Mentoring project a great success and to all HE/FE Mentors who keenly shared their experiences with their mentees."
The results of the KTP Mentoring project speak for themselves. During this year alone, three new FE colleges have had proposals accepted. These included Deeside College, Coleg Sir Gar and Barry College joining Pembrokeshire College and Coleg Menai with partnerships. There is even a fourth set to join them.
Indeed, one of the greatest achievements so far was that this year saw a further education college win a KTP national award for the first time, with Gorseinon College winning the best Welsh KTP Partnership category.
For more information about the KTP Mentoring project, please contact:
Dr Jarmila Davies, CEng, FICE, MIKT
Tel: 02920 828738
e-mail: jarmila.davies@wales.gsi.gov.uk
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Partnership Profile - Fusion Antibodies Ltd |
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KTP yields major improvements in protein production
 “The KTP programme allowed us to overcome bottlenecks in our production capabilities. Henry, under the guidance of Dr Scott, introduced some key improvements, allowing scale-up of protein production in a cost-effective manner.”
Dr Shane Olwill, Research Director, Fusion Antibodies Ltd
For this KTP, Fusion Antibodies Ltd and Queen’s University Belfast examined the protein production processes employed by Fusion Antibodies and made innovations in order to permit the more efficient and scaled engineering of target proteins. The company also managed to produce, to manufacturing scale, an application in a novel TB test kit that was pioneered and led by the KTP Associate, Henry Kwok. The KTP has also benefited Queen’s University Belfast significantly - gaining undergraduate and postgraduate projects, a patent and two journal papers.
Results
- Bottlenecks in production identified and overcome, increasing production capability, efficacy and cost-effectiveness
- Company’s overall performance improved, increasing business opportunities and opening new markets
- Company’s reputation as a leader in its field strengthened and market value increased
- Winning Partnership in 2008 Awards
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Personal Profile - Mark Gittins |
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Qualifications: BSc Hons Psychology, MSc Applied Sport & Exercise Psychology
Current position: Research Consultant
My KTP with the University of Wales, Bangor and Lane4 aimed to develop, validate and bring to market a High Performance Environment (HPE) Model which would link people factors in business to bottom-line (financial) performance. Lane4 is a leading global performance development consultancy, which has a strong track record of working with individuals and teams. This ground-breaking KTP was to extend this expertise into organisational development.
My KTP won a Winning Partnership Award at the KTP annual awards event in 2007, which felt like a fantastic reward for our efforts during the Partnership. From a personal point of view, both my Supervisors are eminent psychologists, so a key highlight was being able to have regular conceptual discussions when developing the HPE Model. It’s not often that graduates get that kind of opportunity!
The best thing about being an Associate is that you get to channel your focus on one project for two years. I also received great support from my KTP Adviser, and enjoyed being able to network with other Associates through the various training modules and the online forum. It created a real sense of community. Finally, the training and development budget you receive as an Associate is fantastic – it’s definitely better than graduates get in a normal job.
From my KTP I’ve been able to build a lot of confidence. When I started I had just left University, and I didn’t know what to expect, or how businesses worked. My project gave me an area of expertise within Lane4 and soon more senior people were coming to me for information. Over the two years, I have learnt how to manage projects, people and their expectations.
My KTP finished in 2005 and I was offered a permanent position with Lane4 as a Research Consultant. I have also continued the research in the form of a part-time PhD at Bangor and the partnership has fast-tracked me into consultancy work at Lane4.
KTP is a good apprenticeship for a career in business. The scientific rigour of the project gives you an area of expertise, which can allow you to progress quickly. |
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Good News Stories |
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University partnership delivers new product for Copyrite Business Solutions
 Wimborne based company Copyrite Business Solutions Ltd predicts a £150,000 increase in sales following the successful completion of a KTP with Bournemouth University.
“The KTP proved to be of great value to our company,” commented Copyrite Business Solutions’ Managing Director, Mike Baynham. “It not only provided key expertise and specialist skills to help us develop a new product, but also stimulated culture change leading to potential long-term benefits throughout the organisation.”
Dr Frank Milsom (Senior Lecturer in Computing) provided the academic supervision and support that enabled the KTP to deliver such useful benefits. “It has been a privilege helping Copyrite Business Solutions explore the potential benefits of adding value through using software to create flexible solutions, bespoke to clients' needs,” reported Dr Milsom. “The Company's appreciation of information technology has been greatly enhanced, the graduate has increased both his business awareness and computing expertise, and the University has benefited from case study material applicable to a range of student learning opportunities.”
KTP helps to launch recognisable local brand
 In partnership with the University of Plymouth, Bristol Fruit Sales embarked on a KTP to help fill a gap in the market for a strong and easily recognisable fresh produce brand that customers can relate to as being authentically Cornish. The new premium brand called ‘Growfair - Pride of Cornwall’ was officially launched.
“The problem is that, yes, there are plenty of local growers out there, but there is not an overarching brand that represents them. This is where we come in. By creating a premium brand, packaged and promoted appropriately, we can unite local growers,” says KTP Associate Mark Oughtred employed as brand development manager.”
Martin Baldry, Cornwall Regional Manager for the company says: “With the ongoing support and expertise from the University of Plymouth, we look forward to building stronger relationships with our growers, ensuring they get a fairer return for their better quality produce. Growfair is a great concept and we firmly believe locally grown fresh produce should be supported at all times wherever possible.”
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