The winners of the annual awards were announced at a virtual ceremony on Wednesday 9 September.

The Innovate UK KTP Best of the Best awards recognise and celebrate the strength and diversity of impact delivered through KTP-supported industry-academic partnerships.

A Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) is a three-way partnership between companies, graduates and academics. KTPs primarily help businesses to innovate and grow, but their symbiotic nature also benefits the graduates who work in these businesses for a project's duration and the academic or research organisation who recruits the graduate for the position.

Queen's University Belfast won four awards across two categories:

'Engineering Excellence'

• IG Masonry Support Systems Ltd, in collaboration with Queen’s School of Natural and Built Environment. The KTP Associate was Emanuele Scarabino.

The 'Engineering Excellence' category celebrates the engineering ingenuity achieved through KTP collaboration.

'Future Innovator'

• Leona McGirr (Fusion Antibodies), in collaboration with The Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research at Queen's
• Mark Gilmore (Kilwaughter Minerals Ltd), in collaboration with Queen's School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
• Muddasar Anwar (FP McCann), in collaboration with Queen's School of Natural and Built Environment

A 'Future Innovator' is awarded for outstanding performance by a KTP Associate and the enormous positive changes they have created within their industry.

Commenting on this recognition, Lorraine Marks, Head of KTP and Business Engagement Programmes at Queen's, said:

"Queen's University Belfast is a leader in KTP development and delivery, working with over 400 companies, the majority of which are SMEs.

"Our dedicated KTP team always goes the extra mile to serve and support our company partners, academic researchers and the KTP Associates. We are proud and delighted to have our Partnerships recognised at the KTP Best of the Best Awards 2020."

The KTP Best of the Best Awards are delivered for Innovate UK by the Knowledge Transfer Network. The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme aims to help businesses improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills that reside within the UK knowledge base. KTPs are funded by UK Research and Innovation through Innovate UK as part of the government's Industrial Strategy.