RGU and Scotmas Group win Innovation of the Year in business awards

The awards, managed by Interface, are a celebration of knowledge exchange between businesses and academics in Scotland, showcasing the incredible achievements of collaborative partnerships and individuals.

RGU’s collaboration with Scotmas resulted in the development of a new and innovative method of water disinfection without harmful by-products, suitable for use in drinking water, hospitals, and food production applications worldwide.

Donella Beaton, Associate Vice Principal for Business and Economic Development, commented: “We are delighted to have won the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Innovation of the Year Award with Scotmas. The potential impact of the innovation is incredible and we congratulate the Company and the RGU team for what has been achieved. We were delighted to collaborate with Scotmas to help realise their vision, through the Scottish Funding Council’s Advanced Innovation Voucher scheme, and now look forward to hearing future developments.”

Alistair Cameron, Scotmas Managing Director, said “This award is the culmination of a five year project and is testament to what can be achieved when business and academia collaborate.  By the end of this year, Scotmas systems will be responsible for supplying over 5,000,000,000 litres of clean, disinfected drinking water every day in locations all around the World, protecting people from harmful diseases and ensuring quality of life.”

The University was shortlisted in two other categories. The University’s partnership with the Denis Law Legacy Trust was recognised in the ‘Making a Difference’ category for developing the amazing Streetsport initiative into a multi-levelled programme supporting young people in challenging situations within the City and Shire.

In the ‘Knowledge Exchange Heroes’ category, Gary Hogan, RGU’s Knowledge Exchange Manager, made the shortlist. Gary, along with his colleagues, has played a pivotal role in significantly increasing knowledge exchange activity and supporting businesses through the pandemic. Through the last year, Gary has fostered 50 new Knowledge Exchange collaborations between the University and industry.

The annual awards are organised by Interface, which matches business to Scotland’s world-leading academics to develop and research new products, services and processes.

Dr Siobhán Jordan, Director of Interface, said. “The judges were incredibly humbled and impressed by the innovation and creativity, exemplar partnerships and overall impacts of the applications across all eight categories.

“From responses to the COVID-19 crisis, to breakthrough technologies in health, circular economy and poultry genetics, the winners announced today are an impressive showcase of the incredible collaborative work which goes on every day in Scotland, and a celebration of the people behind the partnerships from all industry sectors and across all academic disciplines.

“They bring renewed admiration for knowledge sharing between businesses, social enterprises, public bodies, such as the NHS, universities and colleges across Scotland.”