27th April 2018: Universities take home 6 awards in the Knowledge Transfer Ireland Impact Awards

Universities take home 6 awards in the Knowledge Transfer Ireland Impact Awards

The Irish Universities Association congratulates the universities who took home 6 awards in the Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI) Impact Awards at a ceremony in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

The KTI Impact Awards recognise and showcase the success in knowledge transfer carried out in Irish Higher Education Institutions and publicly funded research organisations.

The awards acknowledge and celebrate the technology transfer offices, industry liaison offices and their staff on-the-ground who make knowledge transfer and commercialisation happen.

KTI is a joint collaboration between the Irish Universities Association and Enterprise Ireland. Since its inception, the culture of commercialisation of research outputs among researchers in Irish universities has been radically supported and enhanced.

Commenting on the awards Jim Miley, Director General of IUA said; “We are delighted that the success of our member universities in the knowledge transfer area has been recognised and rewarded.  KTI has become a key driver of change and innovation, enhancing knowledge transfer and ultimately creating value for businesses and the Irish economy.”

KTI’s management of the EI Technology Transfer Strengthening Initiative which co-funds the university Technology Transfer Offices, has resulted in Ireland now having the infrastructure on which to build further success in innovation and knowledge transfer.

The awards were presented on the night by John Halligan TD, Minister of State for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development.

The university winners are:

University College Dublin was awarded the ‘Collaborative Research Impact Award’ for its research with ENBIO that helped the company to develop a novel thermo-optical coating to reflect radiation and protect spacecrafts.

University of Limerick was awarded the ‘Consultancy Impact Award’ where the engagement resulted in the development of a software application for Xtract 360 Ltd that can re-create a car crash in real time to alleviate issues with undetected fraudulent insurance claims.

Dublin City University was awarded the ‘Licence2Market Impact Award’ for a licence that has helped Iconic Translation Machines Ltd, a leading language technology software company, to launch the world’s first patent specific translator.

Dr Emily Vereker, Senior Patents & Licensing Manager, Trinity College Dublin was given the Knowledge Transfer Achiever Impact Award for the development of new patent management initiatives alongside her active case management role, coupled with sharing the TCD approach to patent portfolio management more widely within the sector.

DCU and NUI Galway also received Special Recognition Awards.

Ends.

 

For more information contact:

Lia O’Sullivan, Communications Manager, Irish Universities Association
Lia.osullivan@iua.ie    01 6764948

Alison Campbell, Director, Knowledge Transfer Ireland
alison.campbell@knowledgetransferireland.com      T:  +353 (0)1 727 2738

 

Notes to editors:

The other 2 winners were:

Royal College of Surgeons Ireland was awarded the ‘Spin-out Company Impact Award’ for SurgaColl™, a venture-funded medical device company built on RCSI technology that supplies novel tissue regeneration products for surgical treatment.

DIT Hothouse was awarded the ‘Knowledge Transfer Initiative Award’ for devising a strategic inbound marketing strategy aimed at increasing industry awareness of its knowledge transfer offering.