The University of Strathclyde has been shortlisted in multiple categories at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards, recognising its pioneering collaborations with business and industry and public sector partners.

Championed by Interface, an organisation which brings together Scottish companies and academic communities to solve business led challenges, the awards celebrate outstanding partnerships driving economic, environmental, and social impact.

This year, Strathclyde has eight finalists in seven of the 10 categories in the competition, highlighting the breadth of its contribution to knowledge exchange, economic impact and business growth in Scotland.

The Strathclyde finalists, and its partners, are:

• Innovation of the Year – SolarSub Ltd, with Heriot-Watt University and the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, for refining the design of a solar panel cooling system, optimising it for manufacturing and scalability.
• Innovator of the Future – Dr Dayi Zhang with Inspectahire Instruments Company Ltd, for developing a portable, non-invasive ultrasonic device that revolutionises whisky cask monitoring; and Matthew Gibson, with Ailsa Reliability Solutions Ltd, for creating the next generation of data-driven condition monitoring solutions for the oil and gas sector.
• Knowledge Exchange Champion – Professor John Bachtler, for transforming Scotland’s regional policy knowledge exchange through 40 years of leadership at the European Policies Research Centre at Strathclyde.
• Knowledge Exchange Heroes (Team) – Formulation Unit, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, for its work at the interface of academia and industry to provide real solutions to challenges faced by industry such as the microfluidic manufacture of nanomedicines and enable trials of novel vaccines.
• Making an Environmental Difference – Renewable Parts Ltd, for its work with the University in applying circular economy principles within the wind turbine decommissioning process and promoting the refurbishment and remanufacturing of high-integrity, high-value parts within the wind energy sector.
• Powerful Partnership – BAE Systems, for revolutionising pilot monitoring through innovative neurophysiological analysis techniques. The collaboration with the University has developed groundbreaking methods for assessing pilot mental workload during flight and achieving unprecedented accuracy in real-world conditions.
• Place-based Impact – Digital Dairy Chain, with Scotland’s Rural College, the University of the West of Scotland, First Milk, NMR, SmartSTEMs, Kendal Nutricare, CENSIS and Cows & Co, which is transforming the dairy sector across the South and West of Scotland and Cumbria by driving innovation, enhancing productivity, and stimulating job creation, contributing to sustained economic growth in the region.

Impactful research

Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde, said: "At Strathclyde – founded as a place of useful learning – we are committed to fostering impactful research and innovation that delivers tangible benefits to industry, society and the economy.

“Being recognised in six categories at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards underscores the strength of our partnerships and the game changing impact of our collaborations. I am delighted to see our researchers and industry partners continue to drive forward innovation in Scotland and beyond."

Now in its tenth year, the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards will take place at the Edinburgh Futures Institute on 19 March.

For more information, visit: The Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards | Interface Online