Applied Knowledge Exchange

Samantha MacLean, Programme Leader for the MSc Human Resource Management at Glasgow Caledonian University, presented an award to Kelly Rossi of First People Solutions at the Scottish Recruitment Awards in Glasgow this month.

Rossi picked up the award for Individual Volume Specialist of the Year and won the award against a colleague and a representative from Search Consultancy at a glittering ceremony at the Hilton Hotel.

Glasgow Caledonian University completed the research for the Scottish Business Insider Awards, using the expertise of Samantha MacLean and the Caledonian Business School to design the categories for the awards and oversee the research process for the nominations.

Technology Transfer Opportunity Mechanism (TTOM) Awards have been set up to enable Scottish SMEs to transfer technology from Scotland’s Universities, and are now open for applications. The closing date is 27th August.

Grants of up to £5000 are available to tackle problems relevant to the SME, paid at a maximum rate of 75%, with the remaining 25% being cash or in-kind contributions from the client company.

Support in finding appropriate academic expertise can be provided by Interface.

TTOM encompasses emerging technologies in sectors such as Energy, Life Science, Digital Media, Enabling Technologies (including optoelectronics, electronics, microelectronics and software) and Sustainable Transport.

For more information, contact the Applied Knowledge Exchange, or vist the TTOM website.

Scotland’s first Zero Waste Plan has been published by the Scottish Government, setting out key actions, including new targets, to tackle the near 20 milion tonnes of waste produced by Scotland every year

It aims to drive change and inspire households, businesses, community groups, local authorities and the wider public sector to change the way they view and deal with waste.

The plan will introduce landfill bans for specific waste types, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and capturing their value; separate collections of specific waste types, including food (to avoid contaminating other materials), to increase reuse and recycling opportunities and contributing to the Scottish Government’s renewable energy targets; and new targets that will apply to all waste: 70 per cent target recycled, and maximum five per cent sent to landfill, both by 2025.

Glasgow Caledonian University’s Caledonian Environment Centre works closely with private sector organisations and Scotlands’ councils to reduce waste. Find out more about our work at http://www.gcu.ac.uk/business/clientscasestudies/casestudies/

This year’s Scottish Environmental Technology Network (SETN) annual conference will be held at Glasgow Caledonian University on 15th June 2010.   

The environmental technology conference is this year a collaboration between SETN and the Caledonian Environment Centre at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Caledonian Environment Centre will be supported by GCU’s business gateway, the Applied Knowledge Exchange.

Funded by the SEEKIT programme of the Scottish Government, the event is free for SMEs to attend and will inform businesses about developments in the Scottish environmental technology sector, EU environmental legislation and R&D tax credit workshops.

SETN provides services to Scottish SMEs to improve their competitiveness in the environmental sector including areas such as contaminated land assessment & remediation, waste management, resource recovery, water and wastewater treatment, sustainable urban drainage systems and environmental management.

The Caledonian Environment Centre offers a dedicated team of professionals with expertise in waste resource management, carbon management, environmental sustainability and bioenergy.

Simon Glen, project officer at the Caledonian Environment Centre at GCU, will be speaking at the event, along with representatives from Zero Waste Scotland, EAE Ltd and Environmental Law Chambers.

SETN is led by the Contaminated Land Assessment & Remediation Research Centre based at The University of Edinburgh and works with research base groups from around Scotland.

The Scottish Funding Council made an award of funding to Glasgow Caledonian University to directly support collaboration between Scottish small and medium sized enterprises and higher education institutions.

The Innovation Voucher Scheme is supported by the new SFC funding stream Strategic Priority Investments in Research and Innovation Translation (SPIRIT) and offers each higher education institution funding to meet up to 50% of the costs of one or more new collaborations with Scottish SMEs.

Glasgow Caledonian University is working on projects with Oak Tree Inn, Q&Q Foods, William Latto & Son and Cordale Housing through Caledonian Business School and the School of the Built and Natural Environment.

To find out more about Innovation Vouchers or business development funding, call 0141 331 3189.

Glasgow Caledonian University has a newly approved Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with diving and marine contractors Shearwater Marine Services Ltd.

The partnership will develop a remote web access technical information database to improve diving inspection processes, business intelligence and provide efficient and added value customer reporting facilities.

The partnership received a grant of £85,700 and is being overseen by Professor Brian Stewart of the School of Engineering and Computing. For more information on KTPs and how they can support your business requirements, contact the Applied Knowledge Exhange on 0141 331 3189.

Tourism Minister Jim Mather has championed the resilience of Scotland’s tourism industry.

He commended the sector’s robust response to challenges brought by the continued tough economic climate and recent disruptions to air travel.

Glasgow Caledonian University’s tourism experts in the Moffat Centre produces the Visitor Attraction Monitor, an annual report on the performance of Scotland’s visitor attractions, with analysis by geographic location and other key variables. The associated Visitor Attraction Barometer is a monthly review of attractions’ performance data. It provides a regular monitor of performance based on returns from visitor numbers provided by a representative sample of attractions. Find out more about our tourism expertise. At the Applied Knowledge Exchange, we can offer your business assistance in the tourism sector.

Mr Mather also highlighted VisitScotland’s recovery plan in support of tourism businesses that have lost bookings over the past week because of the Icelandic volcano.

The initiative will see tourism businesses offered free marketing and advertising opportunities on VisitScotland’s Perfect Day website, complemented by a £100,000 radio and press advertising promotion, to stimulate interest in Scotland and encourage visitors to take a ‘staycation’.

Glasgow Caledonian University’s Applied Knowledge Exchange was at the S2S Social Enterprise Fair this week. We enjoyed chatting with Social Enterprises, other universities and inviduals about the growing social enterprise sector.

Our PgC Social Enterprise course was a hot topic of the day!

Find out more from wwww.gcu.ac.uk/business or give us a ring on 0141 331 3139 for a copy of our promotional DVD, which features Mel Young of the Big Issue and Homeless World Cup.

Glasgow Caledonian University spin-off company, Biopta, was used as a backdrop for an announcement by Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, that more than £4.7 million of European funding is being invested in initiatives to support small and medium enterprises.

Biopta, which was set-up by Dr. David Bunton and Professor Chris Hillier in 2002, now employs 18 people in testing drugs for the pharmaceutical industry using ethically sourced human tissue. 

The firm has benefited from investment of more than £2million from a combination of GCU, Scottish Enterprise’s Proof of Concept Award and the Scottish Co-Investment Fund through matched investment from Braveheart Investment Group and TriCap.

Speaking today, the First Minister congratulated Biopta on being a further example of Scotland’s great innovation traditions, adding that the company counts eight of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in the world among its clients.

Find out more about our business successes.

The Applied Knowledge Exchange shall be going to the S2S fair in Edinburgh next month to promote its activities in Social Enterprise. Come and say hello to us at the exhibition!