Applied Knowledge Exchange

The first electricity has been produced from Scottish and Southern Energy’s Clyde wind farm in South Lanarkshire. The Perth-based company said the first turbine had been “energised” and the electricity exported to the national grid.

More on the BBC news website…

AppleGreen Homes claim its range of “green” homes, which will slash the average electricity bill by £200 and help tackle the problem of fuel poverty, could be about to revolutionise the housing sector in the UK and abroad.

The new BRE Innovation Park at the former Ravenscraig steelworks site in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, will showcase the new Clyde-built homes later this year.

AppleGreen hired city-based Spacesix Architects and Glasgow Caledonian University to research and develop all aspects of the build with an edict that the new generation homes had to be “highly energy efficient yet affordable”.

Click for more info or see the Evening Times for the full article.

In an interview with Business Insider magazine, ClydeUnion Pumps boss Jim McColl reveals his thinking and what has helped to make him a global success.

ClydeUnion Academy Launch

He also talks about the ClydeUnion Academy, a training partnership with Glasgow Caledonian University, and his influences which have led him to create a group which has a portfolio of some 83 companies in 27 different countries turning over £1.5bn and employing more than 6000 people.

Click here for the full article.

Howden has agreed to acquire Thomassen Compression Systems BV to open up a much wider market for the company in the oil & gas and petrochemical industries. Howden said this acquisition represents a real boost for the Renfrew-headquartered multinational as it builds its compressor businesses worldwide and moves into new markets.

Bob Cleland, Chief Executive of Howden said “I am absolutely delighted with this acquisition which adds a major range of complementary products to our compressor portfolio. It increases our activities in the refining and petrochemical sectors, which have been underweight compared to our core market of power generation. It is part of our strategy to widen our range of products used in performance critical applications in key global infrastructure industries. This acquisition reinforces Howden’s position as a significant part of Scottish engineering, a sector which continues to play a leading role in the country’s economy”.

Howden and Glasgow Caledonian University have worked in partnership to develop Howden Academy, which was launched in July 2008. The Academy combines Howden’s specialist engineering skills and experience with the teaching expertise and worldclass learning facilities of Glasgow Caledonian University. Howden Academy helps the company to attract and retain the very best engineers. It provides new personnel with the fastest possible route to full productivity and allows them to quickly start making a genuine contribution to the company’s activities.

For more information on business training academies, please contact the Applied Knowledge Exchange on 0141 331 3189 or email appliedknowledgeexchange@gcu.ac.uk

The Herald reports Clyde Union’s historic former Weir Pumps business, which was rescued by Scottish engineering entrepreneur Jim McColl, will this year raise its headcount to more than 1000 – almost double the number employed at the site when Weir sold the operation.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/business/corporate-sme/clyde-union-on-course-for-1000-jobs-at-cathcart-1.1084376

CLYDEUNION Pumps is one of the world’s leading pump companies – a centre of excellence in Pump Technology, Hydraulic Design and Engineering.

In 2009, CLYDEUNION Pumps launched the CLYDEUNION Academy, an educational, learning and training centre to support the company’s extensive growth plans and offer employees fully accredited qualifications in-house at the Cathcart site, in partnership with Glasgow Caledonian University.

Executive Chairman Jim McColl and Professor Pamela Gillies, Principal and Vice Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University signed a Memorandum of Understanding for CLYDEUNION Academy to offer a bespoke CLYDEUNION MSc in Leadership and Management. This programme is delivered in-house by University lecturers and associate lecturers who are being developed from within CLYDEUNION Pumps.

For more information on Bespoke Business Academies, call The Applied Knowledge Exchange on 0141 331 3189.

The Government is supporting Street League as part of its plans to help build a stronger culture of giving time and money to support charities and voluntary organisations.

Staff within the Prime Minister’s Office voted for the charities and social enterprises they would like to support in 2011. They selected Street League, an organisation that delivers sports and educational programmes to tackle issues including homelessness, substance addiction, crime and unemployment.

The charity is currently working with Glasgow Caledonian University on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP).

The work is being led by the School of Engineering and Computing and aims to design, develop and implement a range of internal and external communication applications for diverse audiences by integrating user centred design with new technologies.

For more on KTPs or working with Glasgow Caledonian University to unlock the potential of your business, contact the Applied Knowledge Exchange on 0141 331 3189 or visit www.gcu.ac.uk/business/businessfunding

LAT56° is launching its technical business travel luggage exclusively at Selfridges in London Oxford Street, Birmingham and Manchester Trafford as well as on its website. The Glasgow-based company is also aiming to launch in the US.

Glasgow Caledonian University played a crucial role in the patented design. LAT56° did not have the expertise it needed in-house, nor could it manufacture samples. It used the university’s Business Transformation Fund to access expertise and facilities in a ten-day consultancy package.

“We are trained industrial designers, we didn’t have any experience in the world of textile design so we needed to bring in expertise to the table and we found out about the Business Transformation Fund,” said Kevin Fox, LAT56° Co-Founder and Design Director.

LAT56° business travel luggage incorporates a garment chamber that provides full torso protection.

Read our case study about the project, and more about what the Applied Knowledge Exchange can do for businesses.

Read more on Business7 about the company’s plans.

Some of Glasgow Caledonian University’s areas of expertise feature in a new Business Insider Special Report  on Knowledge Exchange.

We have highlighted the CIC Start Online project, our High Voltage Engineering team, some of our Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) and our Work-Based Learning Academies.

For the full supplement, please click here.

AGRICO UK is working with Glasgow Caledonian University on a two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP).

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is Europe’s leading programme, helping business to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills that reside within the UK knowledge base. 

With the help of Glasgow Caledonian University’s food science experts in the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Agrico aims to introduce laboratory techniques to support the development of novel potato genotypes with specific nutritional properties.

The Applied Knowledge Exchange can help your business with a Knowledge Transfer Partnership – give us a call to find out more on 0141 331 3189 or visit www.gcu.ac.uk/business

Campbell Dallas has won the Scottish Accountancy Awards’ Fastest Growing Firm, sponsored by Glasgow Caledonian University.

Pro-Vice Chancellor Mike Smith presents an award

Johnston Carmichael was recognised for its push into the central belt when it picked up best medium firm ahead of Anderson Anderson & Brown and Campbell Dallas. Campbell Dallas received a special commendation in that category.

Glasgow Caledonian University’s Caledonian Business School has sponsored the award for the past two years. The school has significant expertise available in accountancy, risk management, and work-based leadership and management programmes.

The firm saw fee income rise by an impressive 16.4% during 2009, despite a freeze on rates, and received a special commendation in the Best Medium Firm award, which was won by Johnston Carmichael.

Lord Smith of Kelvin, chairman of Weir Group, was given the outstanding achievement award at the event. Currently he is chairman of Weir Group and Scottish & Southern Energy and a non-executive director of Standard Bank Group Ltd. In addition, he is chairman of Glasgow 2014, a member of the Council of Economic Advisors to the First Minister of Scotland, chancellor of the University of the West of Scotland and patron of the Scottish Community Foundation.

KPMG was named ahead of rivals Deloitte and Ernst & Young in the big firm category, while its pensions advisory group was picked out as the team to watch.

The judging panel was chief executive of British Polythene Industries John Langlands,Weir Group’s Professor Ian Percy, area director for West of Scotland commercial banking at Bank of Scotland Craig McNaughton, chief financial officer at Hudson Aileen Brown and president of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in Scotland Peter Fee.