Cardiff celebrates power of partnerships

13 July 2020

Partnerships which tackle issues ranging from food poverty to HIV are being showcased at Cardiff University.

The projects highlight the University’s work to connect, collaborate and create as it builds a future #HomeofInnovation campus to boost wellbeing in Wales.

Cardiff University President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Colin Riordan, said: “Global events make it imperative for research-intensive universities like Cardiff to find ways of unlocking the power of research. By forging partnerships and investing in a future #HomeofInnovation, we can create opportunities for public, private and Third Sector organisations to join us and help put Wales back on track after the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The six projects range across life sciences, business, humanities and government at international, national and local levels:

Tackling food poverty in Cardiff and beyond - Dr Yingli Wang and Food Cardiff;
Protecting endangered species in Sabah, Borneo through creating new government policy, State Action Plans - Professor Benoit Goossens and Sabah Wildlife Department;
Application of genomics as a national HIV clinical Diagnostic Service – Dr Thomas R Connor and Public Health Wales;
Implementing the ecosystem services approach for sustainable management of freshwaters - Professor Isabelle Durance, Welsh Water and Welsh Government;
An Innovative Airport Logistics System for Low-Cost Condition-Based Maintenance Baggage Handling Operations – Professors Maneesh Kumar and Pauline Found and Siemens Logistics;
The Modern Foreign Language Student Mentoring Project and Language Horizons: Reimagine Your World - Professor Claire Gorrara & Central South Consortium.

Dr Nick Bourne, Deputy Director, Head of Commercial Development at Cardiff University, said: “The pandemic led us to cancel our 2020 Innovation and Impact Awards. In their place, we have opted to highlight six partnerships have been recognised as exemplars of innovation and collaboration, and their success will be showcased, digitally.

“The projects show how we connect, collaborate and create with external organisations. Ranging across life sciences, business, humanities and government at international, national and local levels, these collaborations illustrate our commitment to working with all sectors, and the impact we can achieve by working in partnership.”

Cardiff Innovation Campus will bring together thinkers, makers, entrepreneurs and funders to turn great ideas into projects that can power socio-economic recovery as lockdown eases.

A centre for spinouts, start-ups, student enterprise and entrepreneurship, Cardiff’s flagship innovation building - sbarc I spark – combines lettable office space with innovation facilities to create a #HomeofInnovation.

Cardiff has an impressive track record for turning ideas into real-world answers and ranks first amongst Welsh universities for the generation of IP income.

For more information about working with Cardiff University, email homeofinnovation@cardiff.ac.uk