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An international project led by Â鶹´«Ã½ Leicester (Â鶹´«Ã½) which aims to improve public health by boosting the educational resources available to students was among the winners at this year’s Leicestershire Live Innovation Awards.

The awards, held at Leicester’s National Space Centre, celebrated the very best technological, digital and creative thinking in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland from start-ups to established companies.

The e-Parasitology project, led by Â鶹´«Ã½’s Dr Antonio Peña-Fernández, won the Innovation in Education and Training Category. It is an open-access website for  healthcare and human science students, bringing learning resources and virtual tools together, which recently has been also launched as an app for smartphones. Â鶹´«Ã½ is working with universities in Spain, Chile and also from Sierra Leone, where diseases caused by parasites are a key public health concern.

Dr Peña-Fernández said: “It’s an honour to get this award. I think this award is not just for me, but for the team (staff and students) who have been working collaboratively on this project. We have been supported by colleagues from universities around the world to students here at Â鶹´«Ã½ who were hired through different internal working schemes to help us with the development of designs and multimedia content.

“It is completely open access and can be used by anyone, anywhere. During COVIDovid-19 it meant students could use this resource to study at home.”

Jason Bradbury, former host of TV’s Gadget Show, hosted the awards, which is sponsored by Â鶹´«Ã½, the University of Leicester and Morningside Pharmaceuticals.

Â鶹´«Ã½ Fashion Technology graduate Talent Nyandoro won the Innovation in Design category for her Leta-Lux lingerie, designed with a detachable front for smear tests and other procedures.

Â鶹´«Ã½ PhD student Jane Hearst was a runner-up in the University Student Innovation for Aspire To, a book which aims to inspire children through stories of role models. Â鶹´«Ã½ graduate Liga Orlovska, whose business Honey Craft is supporting community beehives at Mowmacre Primary, was another runner-up alongside the Daydreamer Initiative, which supports homeless people to get back into work.

This year’s winners included individuals, teams, businesses and public sector bodies that are leading the way in all types of research and development, as well as in new manufacturing techniques, software design and the latest digital technologies that will shape future Britain.

Helen Donnellan, Â鶹´«Ã½ director of enterprise and business services, said: "This year's Innovation Awards have shown the wealth of ideas coming out of companies and entrepreneurs across Leicester and Leicestershire.  

"Their willingness to try new things, test new approaches and take risks has only been intensified by the pandemic and as we have seen tonight, has led to some truly inspiring ideas and new products that have changed lives.

"What was particularly gratifying was to see the number of businesses who had seen the value of linking up with universities to get support in R&D, testing or as start-ups and we'd like to get across the message to companies that we are here to help.

"I know all of us as judges had an incredibly tough time choosing the winners and I would like to congratulate all of the finalists and winners, and we look forward to seeing even more entries next year.”



Runner-up Jane Hearst whose book Inspire To shows the power of role models

Dr Nik Kotecha OBE of Morningside, who is also the chair of the LLEP Innovation Board, said: “The applications for this year were incredible we’ve got some great talent here in Leicester and Leicestershire.”

A Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Richard Freeman, of Coalville-based Zeeko, which builds precision polishing machines for optics and other complex surfaces. In 2019 machinery made by Zeeko was used to help build two cameras which captured fresh pictures of the July 20, 1969, Moon landing site.

This year's Innovator of the Year was Leicester air quality specialist EarthSense, a spin out company from the University of Leicester.

The 2021 LeicestershireLive Innovation Awards winners are:
Innovation in Services, sponsored by Furnley House – EarthSense
Innovation in Design – Leta-lux
Innovation in Education and Training – Â鶹´«Ã½ e-Parasitology Project
Innovation in Construction – 3D Concrete Printing (Loughborough University)
Digital Innovation of the Year, sponsored by Â鶹´«Ã½ – BrainBerry
Innovation in Technology, sponsored by Â鶹´«Ã½ – Tzuka
Innovation in Schools – Woodbrook Vale School
Medical and Health Innovator of the Year, sponsored by Morningside Pharmaceuticals – Hive Composites
Innovation in Manufacturing and Engineering – Flotec
University Student Innovation – BeoBia
Innovation in Space, sponsored by the University of Leicester – Redshift Associates Ltd
Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by the University of Leicester – Richard Freeman, of Zeeko
Innovator of the Year, sponsored by the University of Leicester – Earthsense

Adam Moss, the Leicester, Coventry and Northants editor for LeicestershireLive parent company Reach plc, said the quality of innovators across the region was second-to-none.
He said: “Once again it’s great to be celebrating people and business driving innovation in Leicester and Leicestershire.”