New Award recognises positive societal outcomes of KTP

Introduced this year to the KTP Best of the Best Awards, the Societal Impact Award honours KTP collaborations that have brought about positive social or environmental impact. 

Supported by UKRI, the new category attracted a high number of quality entries – so strong were the nominated projects that judges have shortlisted four as finalists. 

Join us to celebrate the success of these and all other finalists in the six categories for this year, and find out who the winners are at our immersive, online event on Wednesday 9 September, 4-5pm. Free to attend and open to all with no special equipment needed, you can register here. The event is brought to you in partnership with Immerse UK and Laval Virtual.

Societal Impact Award – WINNER:

Empowering employees to manage their mental wellbeing

Company Inspire Workplaces

University Ulster University

KTP Associate Gillian Cameron 

Funding ESRC / Invest NI

Charity Inspire Support Hub teamed up with Ulster University and KTP Associate Gillian Cameron to create a web-based platform to offer access to mental health screening and support to employees of companies at risk of secondary traumatic stress as a result of their job involving curating disturbing digital media. 

The project fulfilled and exceeded its original brief, extending to the charity’s wider remit of providing workplace wellbeing services to organisations across the UK and Ireland. The anticipated reach of the Inspire Support Hub now has a potential end-user base of 800,000 lives. More here. 

FINALISTS:

Improved life chances via the youth justice system

Company Co-creating youth justice practice with young people – Positive Steps

University Manchester  Metropolitan University

KTP Associate Anna Jones 

Funding ESRC / AHRC

In Manchester, positive change has been achieved through a collaboration between Positive Steps, Manchester Metropolitan University and KTP Associate Anna Jones (PhD Criminology).

A new framework created in consultation with young people from within the criminal justice system has resulted in reduced reoffending rates and improved life chances. The scheme is the first of its kind in the UK to be co-created with the young offenders themselves and was facilitated via the use of boxing, rap lyric writing and urban art workshops. More here. 

Gamifying asthma inhaler usage for children

Company: Orbital Media / My Spira

University: University of Suffolk

Associate:  Thomas Andrews

Funding: Innovate UK and AHRC

Orbital Media teamed up with University of Suffolk and KTP Associate Thomas Andrews (who has a degree in Computer Games Design) to create a revolutionary app that combines augmented reality (AR)  with gameplay to help children use their asthma inhalers correctly.

Over one million children suffer from asthma in the UK and it is one of the leading causes for paediatric hospital admissions – often down to poor management of the condition. To address this, the KTP developed a medically approved augmented reality healthcare tool to engage children with the learning material, achieving significant learning outcomes and potentially saving hundreds of lives. 

Finally, fuelled by the COVID pandemic, the company behind the app has provided free access to MySpira for every child in the UK for a period of 12 months. More about this project here. 

Reducing the risk of brain injury during ambulance transfer

Company        Paraid, a division of Evac+Chair International Ltd

University         Birmingham City University

KTP Associate                Alex Round

Funding                            Innovate UK

With the aim of preventing damage affecting brain function (encephalopathy) in ambulance transfers, this Knowledge Transfer Partnership between Evac+Chair, Birmingham City University and KTP Associate Alex Round set out to design and develop an impact resistant interface system (IRIS). 

The IRIS aims to reduce the risk of brain movements within the skull under heavy acceleration and deceleration. To facilitate this valuable research, Birmingham City University used new simulation software to determine the strength/stress analysis of the IRIS and other ancillary Evac+Chair products in the event of an ambulance crash, increasing productivity and yielding significant cost-savings. More about this project here. 

Join us at our Virtual Awards Ceremony on Wednesday 9 September, 4-5pm, brought to you in partnership with Immerse UK in the Laval Virtual World, to celebrate KTP success as we announce the winners of all six categories of the KTP Best of the Best Awards. You don’t need any special equipment to enjoy the immersive experience – you will need to download the platform in advance of the ceremony.