Triple hope for University companies

The Lord Stafford Awards celebrate collaboration between universities and businesses in the West Midlands, and the University has reached the finals with three of its successful partnerships.

The groundbreaking Caparo Innovation Centre (CIC), a partnership between the Caparo Group of companies and the University, and the Advanced Business Development Network (ABDN), a network of 19 West Midlands manufacturing companies, have both been shortlisted in the Open Collaboration category.

Meanwhile, environmental services company Crestwood Environmental Ltd has been shortlisted in the Innovation in Development category.

Professor Ian Oakes, Pro Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise from the University, said: “We are absolutely delighted that three of our business collaborations have been shortlisted in the Lord Stafford Awards. The University plays a key role in the economic growth of the region and we are pleased that our commitment to supporting and developing businesses is being recognised in this way.”

The winners of the Lord Stafford Awards will be announced at a celebration dinner at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire on Thursday, 18 November 2010.

Since its creation in 2003, the Caparo Innovation Centre has helped more than 800 inventors assess the viability of their ideas as well as taking a number of inventions through to market.

Based at Wolverhampton Science Park, the Centre is staffed by a team of product and business development professionals covering a range of engineering, marketing, design and business skills.

The Advanced Business Development Network was established to enable a group of SMEs in the West Midlands to work together to improve competitiveness and win bigger contracts than they could achieve individually.

Led by Malthouse Engineering Group, the ABDN has introduced IT systems to enable members to work together which has led to £200,000 of new business, developed by a graduate through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the University of Wolverhampton.

Crestwood Environmental Ltd provides support and advice for waste management, renewable energy and land development projects. Over the past year, the company has worked with the University to monitor levels of bioaerosols which are produced largely as a result of open air composting.

The project involved a graduate working on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership through the University, and is the first of its kind to use specialist equipment to assess the hazards of waste management sites.

ENDS

For more information please contact Vickie Warren in the Media Relations Office on 01902 322736