Dundee projects and academics recognised in Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards 2025

Dr Andrea Rodriguez is finalist in the Knowledge Exchange Champion category for her work around oral health for homeless people.

While Professor Niamh Nic Daeid and team have been shortlisted in the Knowledge Exchange Heroes category for their work developing Virtual Reality technology for crime scene investigations.

And Professor Michael Brown and team are in the running for the Making an Environmental Difference category for their work into windfarm foundations, in partnership with Heerema Marine Contractors.

The Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards celebrates the partnerships between business, third sector, and public sector organisations and academia. Now in its 10th anniversary year, this annual event recognises and rewards exceptional collaborations that deliver economic, environmental and social benefits for Scotland.

The finalists were announced on 12 February 2025. A full list of finalists can be found here.

Knowledge Exchange Champion category

Dr Andrea Rodriguez, of the University’s School of Dentistry, was selected as a finalist for the Knowledge Exchange Champion category for her work around oral health for homeless people.

Dr Rodriguez, whose background is in social psychology, works with groups experiencing homelessness in Scotland and in Brazil. She uses participatory methodologies and knowledge-exchange learning to create training programmes for health and social care practitioners in both countries.

Dr Rodriguez leads the Scottish Oral Health Psycho-social Improvement Programme for Homelessness. 

Her research within the areas of health, homelessness and public engagement has been fed into several local and national committees, including Dundee City Council’s Homelessness Commission, the NHS Education for Scotland Advisory Group’s ‘Involving People and Communities Framework’, and the Way Home Scotland Coalition.

Dr Rodriguez led an international Knowledge Exchange Programme on youth homelessness, ‘Helping Young People Feel at Home’. This took a multi-agency approach, with young people living in homelessness accommodations in Scotland and Brazil reflecting on service provision and professional practices.

The programme engaged with more than 50 young people in both countries and 45 organisations ranging from local authorities, NHS boards, schools, and housing services, to national youth organisations.

Knowledge exchange events held in Scotland and Brazil helped to identify challenges and new approaches to engage with rough sleepers.

The recommendations from the programme informed the 2021 Youth Homelessness Prevention Pathway report. This work is part of the Scottish Government priorities for delivery of the Ending Homelessness Together Action Plan.

Knowledge Exchange Heroes category

A team of experts led by Professor Niamh Nic Daeid were selected as finalists in the Knowledge Exchange Heroes category for their work developing Virtual Reality (VR) technology for crime scene investigations.

The team, based at the University’s Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science (LRCFS), collaborated strategically with a range of international police forces and forensic science service providers from across Europe to apply VR technology and transform training and competency testing for forensic practitioners.

The project team included academic researchers and forensic scientists from LRCFS, forensic scientists with specialisation in crime scene examination and fire investigation, digital imaging specialists, software engineers, virtual reality experts and visual artists with expertise in graphics and visual effects. 

This project is at the cutting edge of forensic science and has engaged with nearly 100 forensic practitioners from over 30 organisations and private and public sector agencies across Europe including police forces, forensic science laboratories and private companies.

This created an opportunity to advance research in forensic science by filling gaps in current global knowledge, including investigations into how DNA degrades and its recoverability from different surfaces which have been exposed to fire, and the development of research examining the response of electrical systems to fires.

It has also contributed to improvements in the professional development of fire scene investigators with follow-up research revealing the benefits of partnership working between academia and operational practitioners.

Making an Environmental Difference category

Professor Michael Brown and a team of geotechnical engineering researchers from the University’s School of Engineering, were selected as finalists in the Making an Environmental Difference category.

The team were selected for their work in partnership with offshore engineering firm, Heerema Marine Contractors, based in the Netherlands.

Heerema sought support from the University’s team to further develop their silent foundation systems to safeguard marine life, particularly marine mammals and fish migration routes, recognising the urgent need to mitigate the environmental impacts of offshore wind foundation installation.

Traditional noise reduction systems are potentially cost-intensive, environmentally polluting and inconsistently effective, creating barriers to sustainable offshore wind development. 

The partnership allowed the firm to leverage the University’s Geotechnical Engineering Research Group and unique Centrifuge Testing Centre and develop innovative silent foundation technologies for fixed and floating offshore wind applications.

This collaboration has enhanced environmental sustainability in renewable energy installations, garnered prestigious awards, and strengthened Heerema’s leadership in sustainable offshore engineering practices, leveraging the expertise and support contributed by the University’s researchers.

The academic team contributed and provided extensive technical expertise in geotechnical and environmental engineering, crucial for the development of silent foundation systems.

Their research-based approach enabled rigorous testing and modelling, ensuring that the solutions met the demanding criteria for environmental sustainability and operational reliability. 

The researchers also conducted independent verification through numerical simulations when physical testing was disrupted during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This innovative approach enhanced the understanding of silent foundation installation processes and  provided valuable insights that influenced subsequent designs.