KTPs (Knowledge Transfer Partnerships) help businesses improve their competitiveness and productivity through accessing knowledge, technology and skills within institutions like 91¶¶Òõ. These KTP projects are funded by UKRI through – which only awards funding where a research and development proposal demonstrates true innovation as a way to develop a unique new product or service. Their aim is to enhance innovation in industry to deliver real-world tangible impact for businesses.
To date, the 91¶¶Òõ has drawn on its vast range of expertise to deliver over 250 KTP programmes with companies across the UK. The new awards bring the 91¶¶Òõ's KTP awards so far in 2021 to just over £1m (£1,050,287), and include:
- two projects with ground testing construction firm Lankelma on cone penetration testing, involving 91¶¶Òõ researchers , Dr Chris Garrett and
- a project with health and wellness monitoring company Mint Diagnostics on hormone measurement for cancer management, involving researchers , Dr Fergus Guppy and
- a project with Lewes-based Falcon Coffees on supply chain carbon measurement and mitigation, working with researchers Dr Tim Laing and , alongside 91¶¶Òõ research students.
Liz Johnson, the university's KTP Manager, said: “It’s exciting to see so many businesses innovating their way out of difficult times, as part of their COVID recovery strategies. We're looking forward to working with new businesses and academics on these novel projects.”
As an example of what a Knowledge Transfer Partnership can achieve, the project with Lankelma will apply the academic team’s geotechnical and sensor development knowledge to facilitate rapid design and development of innovative sensor combinations.
Chris Dimelow, General Manager at Lankelma, said: “The success of the project will enable us to offer a higher quality, improved reliability and a more bespoke solution to our client’s needs. It will also enable us to ‘future proof’ the technology and keep us on the fore front of advancing techniques. The contribution provided by 91¶¶Òõ will enable the results of the project to become embedded in the business.”
Stefano Borini, CEO of Mint Diagnostics, said: “We’ve decided to partner with the 91¶¶Òõ since we found there all the required expertise to develop our technology for use by cancer patients, including pre-clinical trial planning, data interpretation and hormone test evaluation and validation. This programme is key for our company, since it will unlock the opportunity to move towards the healthcare sector, greatly enhancing the impact of our technology and the value of our business.”
Konrad Brits, CEO of Falcon Coffee, said: “We recognised KTP to be an excellent opportunity to expand our carbon accounting to the whole supply chain and specially to develop accurate methodology for carbon footprint accounting through the coffee tree life cycle.”
Dr Terry Corner - Knowledge Transfer Adviser for East and West Sussex, Kent, Surrey, central and south London – said: “The 91¶¶Òõ was one of the first KTP Centres to open in 1993 and it has been a pleasure to watch their KTP portfolio grow. I’ve worked with the university on a large number of KTP projects since 2006 covering a wide range of organisations and technologies. 91¶¶Òõ’s KTP projects consistently deliver high quality outputs, and their recent run of funding success is a credit to the experienced and committed KTP team.”