Ulster University Triumphs At £25K Awards

Three University of Ulster innovation teams are celebrating today after their projects won awards at this year's Northern Ireland Science Park (NISP) CONNECT £25K Awards Gala in Belfast

Winner of the main prize of £10,000 was LenisAer, whose innovative business concept focuses on the construction of improved fuel efficient, emission-reducing engine nacelles for the aerospace industry. The LenisAer team also won in the Clean Technology category of the awards.

LenisAer's Dr Alan Leacock said: "Getting to this point has been really difficult: and I don't doubt that things are going to be more difficult in the future - but this award really gives us the motivation to continue with what we are doing."

The Biotech category winner was SmartAir Medical, who have developed a drug dosage monitor device, SmartAIR DDM that will improve the patient's inhalation technique, ensuring optimal deposition of drugs within their lungs.

Their technology will also help medical professionals to ensure that patients are taking their medicines correctly.

In the Digital Media and Software Category, the winners were the team behind Jellyflug., who have developed an interactive game for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch based on the microscopic world of bacteria. The Jellyflug game is a means to explain and project the life of microscopic creatures within the kitchen environment and how they affect our lives.

The ideas powering all three award-winning teams emerged from the University Faculty of Computing and Engineering, assisted by expertise from the Ulster Business School.

At the same event, the University of Ulster Emeritus Professor and leading medical engineering entrepreneur, Professor John Anderson, was honoured for his contribution and dedication to the promotion of entrepreneurship and innovation in Northern Ireland

Professor Anderson, who is qualified in both medicine and engineering, was responsible for the development of the world's first truly portable defibrillator, which was subsequently manufactured and sold throughout the world.

Speaking at the event, Professor Anderson shared his own entrepreneurial journey with the audience, including the origins of the portable defibrillator - based on his work with pioneer, Dr Frank Pantridge at Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital - and how he has been miniaturizing defibrillators for four decades.

Professor Anderson formed the Northern Ireland Bio-Engineering Centre (NIBEC), at University of Ulster (Jordanstown), and was its first Director. He was also the Head of the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at that University.

The event in the Pump House, Titanic Quarter, was hosted by the NI Science Park, and was compered by the BBC's Wendy Austin.

A fourth awards category, High Technology, was won by QUB's MVR, who have developed improved speech recognition software.

The awards event was sponsored by Bank of Ireland, Invest NI, University of Ulster, QUB and the Agri Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI).

(BMcC/GK)