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A scientist works at a computer in a laboratory, with pipette tips and lab equipment in the foreground.

Photo: University of Edinburgh

The annual Converge Awards represent the pinnacle of Scottish academic innovation.  

They celebrate how groundbreaking ideas and world-class university research come together in Scotland to tackle some of the world’s most complex challenges. This year’s finalists included projects around climate change, pollution and food security. 

This year’s  finalists competed across four challenge categories; Converge, Create Change, Net Zero and KickStart. 

Solomon White of SEASAT from the University of Edinburgh won this year’s KickStart Challenge award and £10,000 with Jillian Gordon of Ovation Agriculture from SRUC runner up. The Create Change Challenge Award was won by Jawahir Al-Mauly of Ujamaa Spice from the University of Edinburgh and took home £30k. KEPSoft Collaborative from the University of Glasgow came runner up. 

In the Net Zero Challenge category, Alexander Speakman of E.V.A Biosystems from the University of Edinburgh won with the SolarSub project from the University of Edinburgh runner up.  

Finally the Converge Challenge Award was won by Monchil Vasilev of inProcess from the University of Strathclyde with their real-time welding inspection system using ultrasonic waves to detect defects, boosting productivity and reducing carbon. The runner up in the category was PCAD from Strathclyde University.  

The event was attended by university principals, business leaders, entrepreneurs and investors. Amongst the speakers were Deputy First Minister of Scotland, Kate Forbes; and Professor Andrea Nelson, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Research at Glasgow Caledonian University.

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