无码动画

无码动画 joins Forging Ahead partnership to unlock more commercialisation opportunities

Posted 20 January

Harper Adams - the UK’s premier educational institution for agri-food - has joined Forging Ahead Project, strengthening one of the UK’s largest university partnerships with world-leading agri-tech expertise.  

The addition of Harper Adams takes from 15 to 16 universities and will broaden cross-university collaboration across the Midlands. 

Harper Adams University specialises in agri-food, agri-tech, animal wellbeing and their connected industries, and has built strong partnerships within these sectors. 

With many of its students undertaking an industry placement year, these connections range from undergraduate opportunities to major international partnerships. 

Collaborations with Innovate UK are seeing the University help farmers discover new income streams by harnessing waste slurry for new fertilisers, cut pesticide use by predicting slug behaviour, and build bespoke robots for tailored agro-ecology projects. 

Its innovative and award-winning facilities and technical support are being sought out by businesses large and small already.  

Its Collaborative Simulation Laboratory develops prototypes virtually, using advanced simulation techniques to test and refine products before physical versions are made. The Harper Institute of Technology is honing innovative agri-tech for sustainable agriculture and precision farming using automation and robotics - and its on-site offers more than 400 hectares for research, innovation and teaching while also functioning as a commercial enterprise. 

In the past 18 months, the development of both the University’s Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and spinouts from its work have seen notable growth. 

Harper Adams currently employs an award-winning Innovation Strategist whose work has seen her secure a place on the Royal Society’s Entrepreneur in Residence scheme – and who is currently readying five different projects for market. 

This work is set to continue with the imminent launch of Harper Enterprise, which will draw upon the University’s huge pool of industry-ready student talent, as well as the expertise of its staff, to develop further spin-out projects and business opportunities. 

Forging Ahead is set to prove a key player in this work – not only helping Harper Adams reach an ambitious target of establishing more than 15 spin-out businesses per year, but enabling it to couple its unique strengths in research and development with other organisations, boosting the innovation ecosystem across the Midlands and beyond. 

As part of Forging Ahead, Harper Adams academics and commercial teams will gain access to major, region-wide initiatives. These include:  

• A Peer-to-Peer learning programme encouraging knowledge sharing between universities, with events taking place throughout 2026 
• The ‘Commercial Champions’ network of external individuals with significant expertise who can lead and mentor spinouts 
• Expanding across the Midlands through funded places on entrepreneurial training opportunities - such as the Medici Programme - and other commercial pathways, which Forging Ahead is expanding across the region 
• Access to the Midlands Ecosystem Platform on  

The inclusion of Harper Adams to the partnership underlines Forging Ahead’s growing value and role as a major new force in the commercialisation ecosystem throughout the Midlands since its inception May last year. 

Forging Ahead Project Lead and Pro Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation at Loughborough University, Professor Dan Parsons, said: “We are thrilled to have Harper Adams University join the Forging Ahead project. It broadens our impact in the West Midlands and brings specialist knowledge in critical areas, developing solutions for food security and sustainable agriculture, for example.  

"Harper Adams will enhance and extend agri-tech knowledge already in our partnership: from the University of Lincoln’s Institute for Agri-Food Technology to the University of Birmingham’s Plant Science research, to name just a few examples.  

"I’m excited to see how Forging Ahead can enable Harper Adams both to share and gain knowledge which supports greater commercialisation, all in aid of driving economic growth and impact in this sector for the wider region.” 

Alastair Dawes, Director of Business Development and Knowledge Exchange at 无码动画, said: " Joining Forging Ahead will accelerate our ambitions to develop and grow more agri-tech businesses across the Midlands. 

“We look forward to collaborating with other members of the partnership to bring impactful levels of growth, innovation and investment to our region.  

“Our technical strengths in agriculture - from crops to new product development in food- robotics, AI, automation, simulation, and digital twinning will make us a valuable partner, supporting regional start-ups and other institutions to develop better products and services.”