Knowledge Exchange and Impact Awards

Overview

The inaugural KE and Impact Awards were held on 2 July 2024 across two iconic University of Sheffield locations: the Engineering Heartspace and Mappin Hall. Over 100 guests joined Deputy Vice-President for Innovation Professor Ashutosh Tiwari and host Professor Tony Ryan OBE as colleagues from across the University were recognised in eight categories.

Every day, individuals and groups from across the University collaborate with non-academic partners on brilliant projects that deliver tangible, far-reaching, and lasting benefits to the wider world. The Knowledge Exchange (KE) and Impact awards are designed to celebrate the significant successes of both our academic and professional services colleagues, whilst highlighting the important relationship between KE and achieving excellent impact.

The awards also serve to underscore The University of Sheffield's institutional commitment to KE and impact work, and showcase our achievements in this dynamic space to existing and potential future partners.

2024 shortlists and winners

The awards saw 88 applications across academic categories, with 22 nominations across professional services categories, 30 finalists and 8 winners.

Outstanding partnership or impact in commerce, industry, and the economy

Sensors for Advanced Monitoring of Railway Wheels and Track, Professor Rob Dwyer-Joyce, Department of Mechanical Engineering

A partnership with a Sheffield spinout (Peak to Peak Measurement Solutions Ltd) to create two products for the railway industry. The first is a wheel-mounted sensor which is used to detect low friction in the railway network (low friction is a major issue causing lots of delays, especially due to leaves on the line in the autumn). The second sensor is track-mounted and designed to monitor freight trains as they pass, allowing better understanding of the load imparted in the rail network and potential for damage or improperly controlled wheelsets.

Autumn Cryogenic Railhead Cleaning, Professor Roger Lewis, Department of Mechanical Engineering

A collaboration with Northern Trains, Network Rail, and Cryo Technologies Ltd to develop a new method for cleaning railway track of leaf layers during autumn which uses dry ice pellets fired at the track at high speed, including a system developed for fitting to passenger trains that will allow cleaning throughout the day. These innovations – which involved the University purchasing two trains as technology demonstrators – is leading to astep change in how railways are managed during autumn.

Extremely Low Sensitive AlGaAsSb Avalanche Photodiodes, Professor Chee Hing Tan, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering

The development of patents and the creation of and collaboration with a new spinout – Phlux – around the development of commercial avalanche photodiodes (APDs), diodes designed to experience avalanche breakdown at a specified reverse bias voltage often used as noise sources in radio equipment and hardware random number generators. The spinout has hired a team of 13 staff, won an annual six-figure commercial contract with a photonics integrator in North America, and won three commercial contracts for custom product development.

Flight100, Professor Mohamed Pourkashanian, Translational Energy Research Centre

This partnership with Virgin Atlantic and other consortium partners (including Boeing and Rolls Royce) successfully carried out the first transatlantic flight using 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for a long-haul commercial airline. The historic flight successfully took place on 28 November 2023. It was the first time 100% SAF has been flown in both engines by a commercial airline across the Atlantic, marking a significant milestone on the path to decarbonising aviation.

Winner: Flight100, Professor Mohamed Pourkashanian, Translational Energy Research Centre

Outstanding partnership or impact in creativity, culture, and society 

Roots and Futures, Professor Elizabeth Craig-Atkins, Department of Archaeology

A heritage project that uses oral history and creative consultation to build connections between heritage strategy, local government, and Black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities whose stories are marginalised in traditional Sheffield heritage narratives. Among other impacts, their work with over eighteen community partners has influenced and informed the Sheffield City Goals, the Sheffield Culture Strategy project, and Heritage Strategy Task Force plans, as well as the AHRC place strategy.

CiviAct: Reimagining ʻCommunity Ledʼ University Partnership, Dr Will Mason, Sheffield Methods Institute

This project partners five grassroots organisations with academics at the University of Sheffield and Manchester Metropolitan University to help community organisations to realise their capabilities and respond more effectively to the needs of the communities they serve. Funding obtained from the National Lottery Community Fund has supported 23 new jobs, and new models of university partnership that are collaborative, reciprocal, and led by the needs of those supporting some of the most disadvantaged children and young people nationally.

Forgotten Food, Professor Siobhan Lambert-Hurley, Department of History

A partnership bringing academics into dialogue with public practitioners engaged in Indiaʼs food and local heritage sector (including local historians, heritage practitioners, authors, chefs, farmers, performers, filmmakers and street vendors), focussing on the recovery, preservation, and renewal of the rich food cultures in and from Indiaʼs cities and locations with significant Muslim heritage. The project has resulted in two bestselling trade books, a documentary, training initiatives for local chefs, public events, performances, and exhibitions.

The Great Latin American Women Project, Professor Lauren Rea MBE, School of Languages and Cultures

A collaboration with Billiken to co-create and transform the future and legacy of a childrenʼs magazine that has been at the heart of Argentine cultural life for over 100 years. Through its innovative focus on women in all their diversity, the partnership resulted in Billiken adopting more inclusive narratives, investing in digital innovation, and reconnecting with the education profession. As part of the latter, classroom activities, teaching guides, a MOOC, and animations have also been created for use across the Latin American region.

Winner: The Great Latin American Women Project, Professor Lauren Rea MBE, School of Languages and Cultures

Outstanding partnership or impact in health, welfare, and wellbeing

Screening for Sleep Disorders based on Smartphone Audio Recording, Professor Guy Brown, Department of Computer Science

A partnership with Passion for Life Healthcare (PFLH) on novel acoustic screening for obstructive sleep apnoea, a serious condition in which the airways periodically collapse during sleep, leading to a lack of oxygen. The team designed an acoustic screening tool that works on a conventional smartphone, a low-cost and unobtrusive solution that allows for long-term monitoring. At any one time the app has around 25,000-30,000 users, and its development has allowed PFLH to transition into a digital health business.

Julia Garnham Centre (JGC), Dr Adam Hodgson, School of Biosciences

A partnership with Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust to create the Julia Garnham Centre (JGC), which specialises in the provision of genomic healthcare training to reduce NHS backlogs in cancer diagnosis. By increasing the cytogenomic competence pool through the provision of digital training to students and NHS staff, and by pre-screening backlogs, the JGC has placed over 100 cytogenomic trained students into the sector, analysed over 1,300 cancer referrals, and reduced reporting times for the service across our region by 10-15%.

Developing and Implementing Effective Treatments for Eating Disorders, Professor Glenn Waller, School of Psychology

A partnership with South Yorkshire Eating Disorders Association and various NHS trusts to create novel CBT-based psychotherapy for the treatment of non-underweight eating disorders. This has resulted in policy changes, manual sales, extensive downloads of clinical and training materials, and the design and rollout of training programmes for the NHS and internationally.

Difelikefalin for the Treatment of Itching associated with Kidney Failure, Dr James Fotheringham, School of Medicine and Population Health

A collaboration with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and CSL Vifor to systematically review the use of the drug difelikefalin for the treatment of itching associated with kidney failure, a common and extremely unpleasant symptom until recently without clinically proven treatment. The resulting health economic model, which involved data collection from 600 patients across five hospitals, proved difelikefalin was cost-effective, leading to its approval for use by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

Social Accountability in Medicine: Community Placements for Medical Students, Dr Joanne Thompson, School of Medicine and Population Health

A collaboration with 120 partner organisations to provide placement opportunities for all third year medical students. The placements, which are co-produced, introduce students to the social determinants of health, health inequalities, social injustice, and lived experience, while also serving the local community in South Yorkshire (most partner organisations support vulnerable members of society including children living in poverty, people who are homeless, drug and alcohol users, sex workers, or those living with physical and/or mental health challenges).

Winner: Julia Garnham Centre (JGC), Dr Adam Hodgson, School of Biosciences

Special award: The judges would like to highlight this project as an excellent example of KE and impact through education:

Social Accountability in Medicine: Community Placements for Medical Students, Dr Joanne Thompson, School of Medicine and Population Health

Outstanding partnership or impact in policy, public services, and law

New Scottish MUP Modelling using the Sheffield Tobacco and Alcohol Policy Model, Dr Colin Angus, School of Medicine and Population Health

A partnership with the Scottish government to undertake new modelling work to estimate the potential health, economic, and social impacts of removing or changing the Minimum Unit Price (MUP) on alcohol introduced in Scotland in 2018 (which prevents the sale of alcohol below 50p per unit). The results played a critical role in informing the decision to both continue the policy and increase in the level of the MUP to 65p in September 2024, a change estimated to lead to 1,003 fewer deaths over the next 20 years compared to leaving the MUP level at 50p, or 2,672 fewer deaths than removing MUP altogether.

Alert and Response System for Monitoring Online Abuse towards Female Journalists, Dr Diana Maynard, Department of Computer Science

A partnership with the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) to develop an Online Violence Alert and Response System to detect, predict, and help prevent the escalation of online attacks against female journalists to offline harm, including murder with impunity. The new method, based on a study of 700 journalists and analysis of over three million social media posts, has had findings published by UNESCO, has been covered by Al Jazeera, the BBC, CNN, and the Guardian, and is currently being trialled in newsrooms worldwide.

Tackling Sex Trafficking Online, Dr Xavier LʼHoiry, Department of Sociological Studies

A collaboration with multiple police forces and NGOs in the UK and abroad to tackle commercial sexual exploitation via Adult Service Websites (ASWs), platforms that are increasingly used by human traffickers to advertise the forced sexual services of their victims. The research has developed a risk assessment and decision support tool – the Sexual Trafficking Identification Matrix (STIM) – to help law enforcement and NGO practitioners distinguish genuine profiles posted by non-trafficked sex workers from false profiles posted by human traffickers.

Understanding Unpaid Care Across the UK, Dr Maria Petrillo, Centre for Care

This longstanding collaboration with the charities Carers UK and Carers NI has transformed understandings of unpaid caregiving, which involves 4.3M individuals and is worth an estimated £162B per year. The project – which has gathered information across local authorities, investigated geographical, demographic, and temporal patterns, estimated the economic value of unpaid care, and developed an interactive tool – has influenced the Carers Leave Bill, parliamentary debates, and the campaigning activities of both charities.

Winner: Understanding Unpaid Care Across the UK, Dr Maria Petrillo, Centre for Care

Outstanding partnership or impact in sustainability and the environment

Project Butterfly, Tace Morgan, AMRC

A collaboration with Accenture, BAE Systems, Nissan, and other industrial partners to develop digitally enabled innovative solutions (or novel applications) to drive decarbonisation within the manufacturing process. Among other things, the project created a Prioritisation Guide to enable manufacturing organisations to qualitatively identify high carbon intensity processes, and a Decarbonisation Toolkit to help manufacturing engineers capture and leverage data sources around CO2 emissions and energy efficiency.

AI-Enabled and Context-Enhanced Mobile Intelligence for Sustainable Pest Management in Arable Crops, Dr Po Yang, Department of Computer Science

A collaboration with Mutus Tech Ltd, RSK ADAS Ltd, and Velcourt Ltd to develop PestNet, an AI-driven mobile pest management solution that detects and quantifies foliar pests using mobile devices, places this into the context of region-specific pest tolerance thresholds, and estimates and advises on economic thresholds.

Applying AI to Reduce Sewer Spills, Dr Will Shepherd, Department of Civil and Structural Engineering 

A partnership with Mounce Hydrosmart, Siemens, and Yorkshire Water to develop, prove, and roll out a novel artificial intelligence technique that predicts water depths using rainfall data, compares these to the measured depth within a combined sewer overflow chamber, and alerts the water utility to any unexpectedly high depths which could lead to a pollution incident. The research has resulted in a commercial, cloud-based solution – the Siemens Water Blockage Predictor – currently in use across the entire Yorkshire Water region.

Winner: Applying AI to Reduce Sewer Spills, Dr Will Shepherd, Department of Civil and Structural Engineering 

Rising star in KE and impact (specially designed for Early Career Researchers)

ʻFlowʼ, Dr Claire Cunnington, Department of Sociological Studies

ʻFlowʼ, created in partnership with Chris Godwin (Inner Eye Productions), is a short film that employs narrative storytelling to explore the difficulties adults can experience when disclosing childhood sexual abuse (CSA). Co-produced with representatives from NHS England, the Department of Health, and people with lived experience of CSA, the film has been used both in statutory services and NGOs, is endorsed by the Royal College of Nursing, and was selected for inclusion in two film festivals.

UK Race to Space, Dr Alistair John, Interdisciplinary Programmes in Engineering

Race to Space aims to create and foster knowledge exchange and industry-academia relationships across the space sector. The aim is to create a pipeline of talent, where undergraduate and PhD students gain training opportunities and mentoring, while being inspired to enter and boost the UK space sector. The project enabled the running of the 2023 Race to Space National Propulsion Competition, and culminated in the Race to Space symposium. Setting up these relationships will help the UK achieve its aim of claiming 10% of the global space market by 2030.

The Menstrual Movement in the Media: Reducing Stigma and Tackling Social Inequalities, Dr Maria Tomlinson, School of Journalism, Media, and Communication

This partnership with the Department for Education, the British Standards Institute, Sheffield City Council, schools, and police forces explores the impact of menstrual activism and the media on young people's knowledge and perceptions of menstruation. The findings (to be published as an open-access monograph) demonstrate that the visibility of menstruation in the media has reduced menstrual stigma amongst Generation Z. These collaborations have led to new policies, higher quality education, greater inclusion, improved online communication, as well as increased health and wellbeing.

NANOncolytics: A Commercialisation Journey, Dr Faith Howard, Division of Clinical Medicine

Cancer-killing viruses represent a powerful new biotherapy that have failed to live up to their potential due to their rapid elimination from the bloodstream and poor targeting capabilities. Using pre-clinical models of various cancers, the team have proved that encapsulation of viruses within various nanoparticles hides them from immunosurveillance and can provide targeting strategies to further enhance efficacy. To translate these findings into real-world solutions, they have scaled-up production and commercialisation of these encapsulated viruses via establishing a spin-out company – NANOncolytics.

The Orchestras of Afghanistan, Dr Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey, Department of Music

A collaboration with the Afghanistan National Youth Orchestra to document and promote Afghanistan's orchestral heritage for future musicians and spark interest among the public and scholars. The project has organised five concerts (in London, Oxford, Boston, and Washington DC), seven workshops, a roundtable discussion, and an international study day, yielding 14 new orchestral pieces directly involving 955 individuals and reaching an audience of over 1,500. The project has also been covered by BBC Music Matters, BBC Music Magazine, the Times, and the Guardian.

Winner: The Menstrual Movement in the Media: Reducing Stigma and Tackling Social Inequalities, Dr Maria Tomlinson, School of Journalism, Media, and Communication

Excellent support for KE and impact (specially designed for professional services colleagues)

Dr Rachael Black, KE Lead, Faculty of Social Sciences (formerly Impact Specialist, Centre for Care)

"Rachaelʼs contributions have significantly enhanced the institution's engagement with external stakeholders, driving positive outcomes for both the organisation and the community at large. One key aspect of her excellence lies in her proactive approach to fostering KE initiatives. She has been instrumental in identifying opportunities for collaboration between academia and industry, facilitating the transfer of knowledge and technology from research to real-world applications. Whether through innovative knowledge transfer mechanisms or targeted dissemination strategies, she has been relentless in her pursuit of creating positive societal impact through KE," Dr Maria Petrillo, Centre for Care.

Dr Luke Hilton, KE Lead, Faculty of Arts and Humanities

"Luke has been excellent in the role as Knowledge Exchange Lead. I have worked closely with him over the past two years both in my capacity as History Impact Lead and on my own impact and KE projects. He has brought efficiency, professionalism, and commitment to the role, as well as vision and creative intelligence. His own academic background with a PhD in English has equipped him well to offer bespoke and thoughtful support for KE between academics and a whole host of external partners. Luke is an extremely valuable asset to the University, and deserves to be commended and celebrated for all his qualities and his exceptional commitment that have underpinned dynamic and creative KE initiatives in the Department of History," Professor Julie Gottlieb, Department of History.

Stephanie Bryson, Jennifer Griffin, Hannah Murton, Sonia Rizzo, Anthea Sutton, and Vanessa Wright, KE Team and Professional Learning Team, SCHARR

"The SCHARR KE team have a huge amount and diversity of experience and expertise. If they don't know the answer (which is a very rare occurrence), they know who does. They are unfailingly helpful, and always on the front foot in offering support and assistance. As a team, they sum up what I find great about working at the University of Sheffield. They are friendly, helpful, and highly accomplished professionals. Without them we would not have been able to secure and successfully manage important contracts; bringing in large amounts of funding, producing important academic outputs and methodological innovations and, importantly, having substantial impacts for health service delivery and policy," Dr Steven Ariss, School of Medicine and Population Health.

Allan Griffin, Impact Manager, Faculty of Engineering

"Allan has provided leadership within the Faculty on the development and submission of high quality Impact Case Studies (ICS) for REF2021 and the development and delivery of the Facultyʼs impact strategy post REF2021. His strategic insight and contribution has had direct and visible influence on the development of impact strategy at an institutional level… Allan has confident authority from his background in both industry and the AMRC, and a reassured nature with external partners. Allanʼs assured approach enables him to quickly gain the respect of senior academics and work with them as a peer on impact development," Dr Richard France, Deputy Director of Operations, Faculty of Engineering.

Dr Wendy Lawley, KE Manager, Faculty of Science

"Wendy is a true champion of KE… her approach is positive, supportive, and collaborative. She is highly organised, extremely helpful, and prompt in dealing with queries and issues. Her role in the establishment of a strong relationship with AD Instruments has far exceeded the expectations of a Faculty KE Manager supporting KE and impact activities. This partnership is defining the importance of our Education Pillar to KE and Impact and thus is delivering on the Universityʼs strategic vision to grow and strengthen the knowledge exchange portfolio of the University. Her encouragement, enthusiasm, knowledge, and ability to get things done have been invaluable and I am certain that this partnership would not have happened without her," Dr Jenny Burnham, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

Winners

Individual award: Dr Rachael Black, KE Lead, Faculty of Social Sciences (formerly Impact Specialist, Centre for Care)

Team award: Stephanie Bryson, Jennifer Griffin, Hannah Murton, Sonia Rizzo, Anthea Sutton, and Vanessa Wright, KE Team and Professional Learning Team, SCHARR

Full details of of the 2024 award ceremony, including details of the judging panel, organising team and highly commended applications and nominations can be found in the 2024 awards brochure.

View or download the brochure

Awards ceremony gallery

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