Download the platform, customise your avatar, and join an immersive experience to celebrate KTP success!

The countdown has begun! In just less than three weeks, we will be celebrating the multiple innovation impacts of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP), in a completely reimagined new format of the KTP Best of the Best Awards (click the link to see all the finalists).

As a result of Covid-19 plans for the event had to change and the KTN’s KTP team looked for an innovative solution. They have connected with KTN colleagues at Immerse UK, the UK’s network for immersive technologies and, via its partnership with Laval Virtual, the KTP Awards ceremony – to be held on Wednesday 9 September from 4-5pm – will now run in the Laval Virtual World, a state-of-the-art immersive environment, which can be accessed and enjoyed without any special equipment*. You can register for the event here. 

The Ceremony, being produced by Immerse UK, will be hosted by Senior Knowledge Transfer Adviser, Fiona Nightingale, and will see KTN’s CEO Dr Alicia Greated and Innovate UK’s Interim Executive Chair, Dr Ian Campbell take to the stage (either as themselves or their avatars) in the Laval Virtual space as part of a short, dynamic event where winners of six categories will be announced. 

Launched in April 2020 and run by the Laval Virtual Association the Laval Virtual World is designed to gather, inspire and valorise the global VR/AR (Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality) community throughout the year. Easy to install, use and with a simple design, the Laval Virtual World offers many possibilities.  For the KTP Best of the Best Awards guests can embody their own personalized avatar, attend the Ceremony, interact with each other and enjoy some informal networking at the post-show party. 

Commenting on the new format of the event, Senior KTA Gerry Black said “As we celebrate the innovation achieved through KTP, it is right that KTN – who, via its expert network of 31 Knowledge Transfer Advisers, is a key delivery partner of the KTP programme –  also looks to reflect innovation in the event itself. Our KTN connections provided the perfect opportunity to explore using a new platform for the Awards, pushing boundaries to provide a totally different, fresh experience for the event this year ”.

The KTP Best of the Best Awards honour outstanding achievement across six categories:

– Best KTP Partnership

– Business Impact Award

– Engineering Excellence Award

– Most Effective Initiative from a KTP Office Team (inspired by David Woollard and supported by Praxis Auril)

– Future Innovator (supported by Ashorne Hill)

– Societal Impact Award (new category for 2020, and supported by UKRI).

On behalf of Immerse UK, Asha Easton from KTN said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with KTP and Laval Virtual to host this year’s KTP Best of the Best Awards.

As the UK’s immersive network, Immerse UK is always seeking opportunities to showcase new ways immersive technology platforms can be utilized. Laval Virtual World was an excellent choice for this event because of it’s cross-platform accessibility, which makes it inclusive for as many participants as possible. We hope to bring the awards ceremony to life with this new format, and give the audience an introduction to what’s possible with immersive platforms.”

Valentin Regnier, Laval Virtual’s Community Relations Manager, added: “We are truly honoured that KTN/Immerse UK chose the Laval Virtual World to host their very first virtual KTP Best of the Best Awards. Through our collaboration with Immerse UK /KTP – which both support and drive innovation, one of our core values – Laval Virtual intends, once again, to fulfil its goals: valorise the immersive technologies and empower its community.”

Register for the KTP Best of the Best Awards here. 

Find out more about the Finalists here.

Join us for this special Event celebrating KTP success. You can register now for the KTP Best of the Best Awards here. 

Find out more about the Finalists here. 

*Once registered for the event, guests will simply need to download the virtual platform to participate. We will provide a User Guide and there will be a preview the day before to give guests the chance to familiarise themselves with the world, meet some of the finalists, and customise their avatar ready for the Ceremony the next day.

The Event will also be live-streamed on YouTube.