just IMAGINE if…

At the Knowledge Transfer Centre, we firmly believe that people hold the key to resolving some of the world’s most pressing issues with their ideas, a belief communally shared by the entirety of the University of Reading.

We have collaborated with Ella’s Kitchen founder Paul Lindley on various successful projects over the years,  helping get Paul’s ideas for healthier baby food off the ground and building a lasting relationship in the process, but now a brand new and exciting partnership has begun; just IMAGINE if…

just IMAGINE if… has one mission: to identify and help develop extraordinary ideas. Companies, partnerships, not-for-profit organisations or individuals with an extraordinary idea that could help alleviate one of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals but need research input to help it grow can apply.

As the winner of this competition you will be given a unique opportunity to access bespoke research specifically designed to significantly move your idea forward. We will give you access to the right people, the right research, the right facilities, and up to £75,000 to spend on bringing your idea to life.

This INCREDIBLE competition closes Dec 31st, and all you need to do to apply is outline your idea in no more than 1000 words along with a short pitch. That’s it; all that’s standing between you and winning the opportunity to create a positive global impact is a thousand words and a one minute pitch. Seems to go to be true, right? Wrong…!

Find out more and apply right here. 

Using maths and engineering to solve problems in food production, biotechnology, resource efficiency, water and sustainability.

**Article pasted in entirety from https://ktn-uk.co.uk**

 

Could your industry challenge be solved with help from researchers in mathematics, statistics, engineering, computer science?

Data science, artificial intelligencemathematical and statistical modelling at multi scale are key strengths of the UK research base, and can be transformational when applied to industrial problems.

Over the last few years KTN has joined forces with academic partners to harness the expertise of the research community and address nominated industry challenges through Mathematical Study Groups with Industry. At the first study group in January 2017, held in partnership with the University of Bath’s Institute for Mathematical Innovation (IMI), 40 mathematicians, engineers and computer scientists spent three days working on challenges that included improving cocoa yields for the chocolate industry, helping farmers to optimise the value of pigs, and refining the design of a hydroponics system for crop production. The following year KTN teamed up with the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences to run another successful study group.

The third study group, taking the theme of Clean and Sustainable Growth, will be held in partnership with the University of Nottingham on 29th April – 1st May 2019. Once again we will bring mathematical science researchers from across the UK to work on a number of industry problems over three intensive workshop days with the aim on producing solutions to industry problems from areas as diverse as agriculture, food productionbiotechnology, resource efficiency, water and sustainability.

 

Pose a challenge to the Clean and Sustainable Growth Study Group.

The call is currently open for companies large and small to indicate their interest in posing a problem to the Study Group. By bringing your challenge in front of the study group you will have a unique opportunity to access to highly qualified researchers, with the potential to get new solutions provided in a written report.

Willie Thomson, Director of Innovent Technology, said of a previous study group:

“Taking part in the study group was a really positive experience. I found it a fun, fascinating process and it certainly has opened my eyes to the opportunities offered by applied mathematics to agriculture.”

If you would like to present a problem to the study group please contact Matt Butchers and Markus Owen detailing your interest and they will then work with you to develop it into a potential problem statement for the Study Group.

 

This Study Group is fully funded by the University of Nottingham Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarships programme “Modelling and Analytics for a Sustainable Society” with Support from  Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Network; as such, there is no cost for industry to bring a problem to the Group.

So how does the study group format work?

On day one of the study group the selected representatives from industry will present their problems to the researchers in mathematics, statistics, engineering, computer science and related areas. They will then work together towards practical solutions, and first steps in approaching problems.

The academic participants will benefit from the access to real and novel industry problems, allowing them to expand their research portfolio. They also gain from this vital contact with industry and from meeting and working alongside academics from different research areas.

At this stage, the call is for companies to send problems to us – registration details for participants will be available soon.

For further information please contact Matt Butchers, Knowledge Transfer Manager, Industrial Mathematics.

New Partnership between University of Reading and Red Whale!

In the Knowledge Transfer Centre at the University of Reading, we are continually looking to collaborate with exciting, innovative, local businesses in order to help create a positive global impact. We are therefore extremely delighted to announce our latest Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Red Whale, a company based right alongside us on the UoR campus. Red Whale are one of the leading providers of primary care medical education in the UK who specialise in producing evidence-based courses relevant to everyday practice, full of action points for delegates to take away and implement.
 
The project will see Red Whale working with three departments at the University of Reading; Computer Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, and the Institute of Education, in order to develop  a new medical education delivery method utilising an online platform, all the while meeting Red Whale’s core values of being relevant, challenging and fun.
 
We are extremely excited about our latest KTP and what the future will bring with this exciting partnership.
 
KTP or Knowledge Transfer Partnerships is Europe’s leading programme to help bridge the gap between industry and academia. The initiative helps businesses improve their competitiveness by enabling companies to work with higher education or research and technology organisations to obtain knowledge, technology or skills which they consider to be of strategic competitive importance. The  UK-wide programme is overseen by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, and supported by 16 other public sector funding organisations.
If your business has a product or service that could benefit from a KTP, contact us today to discuss the opportunities available to you in more detail.