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Abertay University food and drink projects have been shortlisted as the two finalists for Innovation of the Year at the prestigious 2017 Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards.
The University’s work to help relaunch iconic Scottish soft drinks brand Bon Accord will compete for the honour against another Abertay partnership with fruit and vegetable business Ivan Wood and Sons Ltd.
The Bon Accord project saw an academic team support the famous company through new product development, consumer research and nutritional labelling to create a new range of naturally sweetened soft drinks.
Innovative recipes were developed that can be scaled up and produced in larger quantities.
The Ivan Wood and Sons Ltd project, which involved Peel Tech Ltd, saw Abertay develop an affordable, compact starch filtration system to comply with new legislation that stops food and starch waste from vegetables being deposited in public drains.
It is estimated the new product will have a huge impact on food preparation businesses, including fish and chip shops, wholesalers, restaurants and takeaways across the UK.
Dr Jon Wilkin of Abertay’s Division of Food and Drink said the department was delighted to be the only institution in Scotland to be selected in the category.
He added, 'These nominations show the high regard in which our food and drink research projects are held.
'Both of these partnerships have made a major impact in their respective industries and I wish the teams behind each of them the best of luck.'
A total of fourteen finalists were announced across all categories for the wider awards ceremony, which takes place at the RBS Gogarburn Conference Centre, Edinburgh, on Tuesday 21 February.
The awards are run by Interface, which matches businesses to Scottish universities and research institutes, and is funded by the Scottish Funding Council, Scottish Enterprise, and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
Other categories include Sustained Partnership, Outstanding Contribution to Knowledge Exchange, Multi-Party Collaboration and Building Skills Through Knowledge Exchange.
Lee-Anne McGee, a Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate from Abertay, has been nominated in the Building Skills through Knowledge Exchange category for work with Ivan Wood & Sons.
Interface Director, Siobhán Jordan, said, 'The judges had some really tough decisions to make as the standard of entries was incredibly high.
'However, the finalists in each category had the edge with some outstanding collaborations, many of which have the potential to revolutionise an industry or several industries, change society and people’s lives or make a global impact far wider than Scotland’s shores.'