Knowledge exchange is about the impact of UWL activities on the outside world beyond academia. It is a two-way interaction with meaningful transfer and tangible effect. The government regards it as the third core mission of universities – alongside teaching and research.

Our first ever KE awards celebrate the breadth of activity we undertake at UWL,”

John Charlton, who is Head of Knowledge Exchange and Business Engagement at UWL, explained. A wide variety of submissions were received, he added, and the standard was very high.

Winners in the first category – Student-led KE Initiative of the Year – recognising students as agents of knowledge exchange, were the Claude Littner Business School (CLBS) for Feltham Green Cabin, a successful collaboration between students and the London Borough of Feltham on an urban regeneration project.

The KE Commercialisation Achievement of the Year award went to Dr Waqar Asif, from UWL’s School of Computing and Engineering, for his work on the project IoT-Armor: An IoT Secure-by-Default Educational Toolkit. Addressing a gap in the market, Dr Asif’s custom firmware toolkit allows users to test and implement security measures around internet of things applications. He secured Innovate UK funding and is now embarking on its commercialisation.

Professor Hermine Mkrtchyan from UWL’s School of Biomedical Sciences was awarded KE Research Partnership of the Year for her work in collaborating with industry to reduce the carbon footprint of animal feed and tackle livestock’s antibiotic resistance. In a UK first, UWL is supporting partners to develop an automated seaweed cultivation system in Scotland, designed to produce an alternative protein source for poultry feed.

The KE Seed Fund Project of the Year category celebrating a project that has had an outstanding impact was won by Dr Linda Dinc, from the School of Human and Social Sciences for her short course in Emotional Regulation. Her course has been successfully piloted by 25 representatives from schools across Hounslow and Ealing. Furthermore, the project was recently recognised by The Purpose Coalition as a national example in its ‘Raising Standards, Creating Opportunities’ campaign.

The final category, KE Academic School and KE Champion of the Year (combined), which recognises those who have gone above and beyond what is expected and grow KE culture and performance, was awarded jointly to Professors Wei Jie and Kourosh Behzadian from the School of Computing and Engineering. These colleagues have supported multiple successful Innovate UK-funded projects, driven change, enhancing KE visibility for both the school and university.

Congratulating the winners, UWL Provost and Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Anthony Woodman said, 

It’s a great achievement and wonderful to see how UWL has moved forward with knowledge exchange in recent years.

Today’s winners don’t just pick up an award but also have a chance to watch a football match from the executive box at Brentford FC!”

• Find out more about knowledge exchange activities at UWL