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13 October 2004 > SERU at the Spirit of Innovation Awards 2004

For the fifth year running, the University’s Small Enterprise Research Unit (SERU) has supported a competition which celebrates the North East’s inventions and cutting edge ideas.

Entries for the the Spirit of Innovation Awards were attracted from a record 90 competitors but there were five winners who impressed the judges most with new products and services, each presented with an accolade and a cash prize.

Amongst the Newcastle University guests at the awards ceremony, held at the Marriott Hotel in Gosforth on 6 October, were: the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Christopher Edwards; Provost, Prof. Tony Stevenson; Dean of Business, Faculty of Science, Prof. Barry Clarke; Director of Business, Dr Douglas Robertson and PVC, Prof. Trevor Page who also presented the accolade and cash prize to the small company category, Pnu-Point of County Durham, in recognition of its new grouting gun.

Professor Pooran Wynarczyk, Director of SERU and one of the judges said:

“The North East has a strong history of innovation and invention, with a succession of local people dreaming up original ideas that have transformed lives, but in recent times the region is consistently identified and criticised as having low rates of innovation.

“However, the Spirit of Innovation Awards entries demonstrate that the region is behind a much greater innovation than given credit for. The awards also show that inventions and innovations by women in the North East are not trivial.

“The evening proved a success for Heather Kitching, from Reuzip Partnership in Middlesbrough, who was applauded by the judges and chosen as the overall winner for her invention, a reusable, zipped stretchy cover for a range of items, which aims to replace the more commonly used wraps that are discarded after one use. Heather, also the winner of the British Invention of the Year 2000, is behind a number of innovations and inventions, a true role model for women in the region.”