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Research & Enterprise Awards
Research & Enterprise Awards 
2025
Friday 12 September 2025
More than 85 submissions were received across 10 award categories; each entry demonstrating how Wolverhampton’s expertise, facilities and partnerships are driving forward knowledge, tackling modern challenges and creating meaningful impact.
What made the evening especially inspiring was the breadth of support represented on the evening, with staff and students from the University being joined by alumni, regional stakeholders and partners from the private, public and third sectors across the West Midlands and beyond.
To thrive, our research must remain relevant and responsive. The Awards showcased exactly that, with projects recognised for their local, national and international collaborative impact. More than a celebration of individual and team achievements, the event reflected the University’s ambition to inspire, innovate and deliver solutions that truly matter.
We would like to extend our thanks to our collaborators and sponsors, whose support was vital in bringing this landmark celebration to life.
The winners of the inaugural awards, together with their category partners, were:
Winner - Research Supervision
Dr David Matheson and Dr Moses Murandu
Faculty of Education, Health & Wellbeing
Winner - Rising Star Postgraduate
Ify Nwiwu
Faculty of Education, Health & Wellbeing
Winner - Early Career Researcher
Dr Rahul Mourya
Faculty of Science & Engineering
Winner - Exceptional Research and Enterprise Partnership
Advancing Research and Enterprise Through Global Partnerships
Professor Suresh Renukappa and Professor Subashini Suresh
Faculty of Science & Engineering
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Winner - Excellence in Public Engagement
M.O.O.D: Making Outreach Outstanding through Dissemination
Professor Andy Lane
Faculty of Education, Health & Wellbeing
Winner - Transformative Impact in Knowledge Exchange, Enterprise, Industry, and Innovation
From BIM to Digital Twins: Advancing Construction Innovation Through Applied Research and Industry Partnerships
Professor David Heesom supported by Nigel Moore
Faculty of Science & Engineering
Winner - Transformative Impact in Green Innovation and Sustainability
AI-driven green circular economy via sustainable recycling and manufacturing
Dr Kiran Gulia
Faculty of Science & Engineering
Winner - Transformative Impact in Health and Social Care
Centre for Applied & Inclusive Health Research, Living Well with Dementia Research Cluster
Dr Karan Jutlla
Faculty of Education, Health & Wellbeing
Winner - Transformative Impact in Inclusive Communities
Empowering Women, Empowering Communities: Leading Global Impact through Entrepreneurial Support and Digital Upskilling
Dr Samia Mahmood & Professor Roya Rahimi
Faculty of Arts, Business & Social Sciences
Winner - Exceptional Contribution to University Culture, Community, and Environment
Professor Matthew Wyon
Faculty of Education, Health & Wellbeing
Beyond Futures Research Student Conference 2025 - Prize winners
Oral Presentations
- Best Presentation - Amy Claire Fenn (FABSS) Youth-led approaches to violence prevention
- 1st runner up – Ezekiel Olatunji (FSE) Factors Influencing Community Flood Resilience: Delphi Insights
- 2nd runner up - Hannah Cooke (FSE) Bile Acid Diarrhoea: Diagnosis and Predicting Treatment Response
- 3rd runner up - Caroline Jubb (FEHW) Measuring Training Loads in Swimmers: A Systematic Review
Poster Presentations
- Best Poster - Zakiyyah Ahmed (FEHW) - Bridging Generations: Intergenerational Practices and Social Inclusion Among South Asian Communities in the West Midlands, United Kingdom.
- Runner-up - Zinnia Mansoor (FSE) - Application of bacterial cellulose developed from waste materials, as mulch film for sustainable agriculture
People’s Choice Award Posters
- Visual Impact - Shalini Kumarasamy, FSE - Identifying non-invasive gut inflammatory biomarkers in pregnant women
- Clarity of Message – Dionne Williams, FABSS - Intersectionality, Habitus and Career Progression: Black Women In HE
- Importance to Society – Mary Ibidapo, FSE - 3D Scaffolds for Advanced In Vitro Cancer Models
Awards Shortlist
| 1. Exceptional Research and Enterprise Partnership |
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Advancing Cyber and AI Through Research, Partnership, and Innovation Zeeshan Pervez |
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Advancing Research and Enterprise Through Global Partnerships Suresh Renukappa and Subashini Suresh |
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Healthy Ageing – Collaborative Research and Enterprise Partnership with Universities in China Ruoling Chen and team |
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UK-Ukraine twinning partnership between the University of Wolverhampton and Nizhyn Mykola Gogol State University, Ukraine Zeta Williams-Brown with support from Diana Bannister and Megan Lawton |
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Creative Partnerships for thriving schools and young people Arts Connect |
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2. Excellence in Public Engagement |
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Creative Partnerships for thriving schools and young people Arts Connect |
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M.O.O.D: Making Outreach Outstanding through Dissemination Andy Lane |
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The Arena Theatre Samantha Fleming and Neil Reading |
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3. Transformative Impact in Knowledge Exchange, Enterprise, Industry, and Innovation |
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3D Printable Copper Coated Diamond for enhanced electronics University of Wolverhampton (Niki Zakeri, John Robinson and Arun Arjunan); Diamond Hard Surfaces (Chris Walker, Sally Bristow and Nisura Wijeweera) |
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Driving Innovation in Thermal Management for Battery Technology Through Additive Manufacturing and Academic-Industry Collaboration John Robinson supported by Arun Arjunan and Tharumal Wanniarachchi |
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From BIM to Digital Twins: Advancing Construction Innovation Through Applied Research and Industry Partnerships David Heesom supported by Nigel Moore |
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Strategic Leadership and Management Training Programme – Driving Transformative Leadership and Enterprise Across the West Midlands Executive Education (Sean Starr, Sadaf Alvi-Liaqat and Neelam Bhatia) |
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Transforming Innovation through Collaboration DigiSpinWM |
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4. Transformative Impact in Green Innovation and Sustainability |
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AI-driven green circular economy via sustainable recycling and manufacturing Kiran Gulia |
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Driving Sustainable Smart Innovation for the Future Suresh Renukappa |
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Green Micro Data Centre for On-Demand Computing Atiku Abubakar, Muhammad Amjad; Adeel Rafiq; Mohammad Patwary |
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Sustainable solutions for a better tomorrow iBiotech Ltd |
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5. Transformative Impact in Health and Social Care |
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Centre for Applied and Inclusive Health Research, Living Well with Dementia Research Cluster, Dr Karan Jutlla |
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Health Systems for Improved Prevention and Management of Non-Communicable Diseases in the Horn of Africa (HoA) Countries Wolverhampton-Somaliland Global Health Partnership |
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Personalised interactive biosynthetic dressings for wound management Abhishek Gupta |
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Repurposing old drugs for treatment of rare aggressive cancers, Vinodh Kannappan |
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6. Transformative Impact in Inclusive Communities |
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Achievements in nationally and internationally developing inclusive communities Centre for Research in Education and Social Transformation (CREST) |
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Empowering Women, Empowering Communities: Leading Global Impact through Entrepreneurial Support and Digital Upskilling Samia Mahmood; Roya Rahimi |
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Making Communities Safer Mahuya Kanjilal |
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Strengthening Government capability for data and evidence driven national inclusive economic development programming in the Horn of Africa. Cente for International Development and Training (CIDT) |
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7. Exceptional Contribution to University Culture, Community, and Environment |
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Building a Culture of Knowledge Exchange: Leadership in KEF and Community Partnerships Helen Sargeant |
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Collaborative Knowledge Exchange with Local Authorities Research Circle |
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Julie Wilde and Linda Devlin |
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Matthew Wyon |
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8. Research Supervision |
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Claire Jones |
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David Matheson and Moses Murandu |
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Mohamad Patwary |
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Ross Cloak |
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Suresh Renukappa |
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9. Rising Star - Postgraduate |
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Deinsam Dan Ogan |
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Ify Nwiwu |
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Rekha Duggal and Dionne Williams |
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Rimsha Taqdees |
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Siting Guo |
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Wala Abdalla |
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10. Rising Star - Early Career Researcher |
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Anna Kuteleva |
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Joshua Blamire |
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Nazanin Khasteganan |
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Rahul Mourya |
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Taylor Richards |
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Zeeshan Ahmad |