Knowledge Transfer Ireland has announced the shortlisted entries to its annual Impact Awards, along with the seven nominees for the title of Achiever of the Year.

The awards, to be announced on November 21, recognise significant achievements in knowledge transfer and the commercialisation of research carried out in Irish higher education institutions and publicly funded research organisations.

Those shortlisted for the awards this year are: 

1. DCU and Oriel Marine: collaborated to develop a patented technology to extract a unique form of Deep-Sea Magnesium and Minerals to improve the performance of their products in market of severe burn treatment.
2. Teagasc and UCC: collaborated with Suntory to develop a bacterial strain into a novel probiotic product.
3. Glanbia and UCD: a project to transform dairy waste products into high value bio-based products including biodegradable plastics, bio-based fertilisers and minerals for human nutrition.
4. Trinity College: provision of consultancy services to CO2Logic to complete a project to generate electricity from cooking stoves.
5. UCC: provision of consultancy services to Abbott Nutrition to design a pilot-scale conveyor system for testing infant powder integrity.
6. RCSI: negotiated an exclusive license with Foras na Gaelige for the launch of an adult colouring book to introduce young people to the complex world of the human brain.
7. Trinity College: granted patented IP and associated software and know-how to Volograms, allowing it to launch highly innovative commercial products.
8. UCD: licensed technology to Atlantic Therapeutics, leading to the development of a product to treat stress urinary incontinence.
9. Nova Leah Limited: spin-out company from the Regulated Software Research Centre (RSRC) at Dundalk Institute of Technology, specialising in software in the medical industry.
10. NUI Galway: for spin-out Neurent Medical, which is developing a new medical device-led procedure to treat patients with rhinitis.
11. UCD: spin-out company Equal1 Labs, the world’s first quantum computing hardware startup, developing a new type of quantum computer.
12. Toyota Ireland: commissioned UCD researchers to investigate the energy behaviour of the (new) Toyota Prius IV hybrid vehicle, under a set of conditions representative of regular Irish commuting patterns.

KTI director Alison Campbell said: “This is the fourth year that we have held the KTI Impact Awards, and each year it’s an opportunity to showcase the best practice knowledge transfer that is taking place in Ireland. 

“Our recent Knowledge Transfer Survey underlined the strength and performance of the knowledge transfer system in Ireland, and the value that businesses place on it."

In Association with

Photo: Alison Campbell with Richard Curran, MC for the KTI awards event.