The Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA) IndAc25 Conference is a dynamic two-day conference and careers fair bringing together life sciences industry and academia to explore the latest in industry-academia collaboration, commercialisation, and career development.
Day one focuses on industry-academia collaboration and commercialisation with ample opportunities to network with commercially minded academics, industry open to collaboration and organisations that can support.
Day two focuses on employability and skills development and run similar to a recruitment fair providing the chance for talented and proactive undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff to network with life sciences employers.
Interface are taking part in a panel session and have an exhibition stand, so drop by and meet Shelley Breckenridge, Jackie Sanderson and Gillian Hambley.
Aligning Research with Real-World Impact
Life Sciences Partnerships Day on Wednesday 1st October 2025 will be a day of connection, collaboration and innovation bringing together academic researchers, funders, industry and other external organisations to explore how the University of Glasgow’s life sciences expertise can help tackle real-world challenges.
This event is designed to create space for meaningful engagement between Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences (MVLS) researchers and external organisations. Through a combination of keynote talks, industry-led pitches, collaborative workshops, and networking opportunities, the day aims to:
- Showcase MVLS research strengths and ambitions
- Identify opportunities for collaborative problem-solving
- Facilitate conversations around funding, skills development, and translational impact
- Build lasting partnerships to address key societal challenges with a focus on human and animal health, life sciences, and the environment
Meet Interface’s Gillian Hambley and Jackie Sanderson at this event.
A one-day event where you’ll hear inspiring impact success stories, meet potential collaborators from other Scottish universities, and explore funding and training opportunities to kick-start your own impact-focused projects.
The IAA Impact Festival is organised by the five Scottish universities with EPSRC Impact Acceleration Accounts (IAAs): Edinburgh, Strathclyde, Glasgow, Heriot-Watt and St Andrews.
Speakers
This year’s keynote speaker is Fran Scott. Listed in The Progress 1000 London’s most influential people, Fran is the Science Content Developer at the Royal Institution as well as being the only female science presenter on CBBC. A scientist by training and an engineer at heart, Fran uses her knowledge to entertain and excite audiences of stage and screen. She is best known for her playful (and often fiery) demonstrations on the CBBC show Absolute Genius with Dick and Dom. With her own production company, Great Scott! Productions, she writes and produces high-octane shows for clients such as Google for Education, Mishkat Science Centre, Siemens and National Grid. Balancing entertainment with education, Fran manages to inject her demonstrations with narrative and humour to make them as enjoyable as they are informative.
You’ll also hear lightning talks from impact leaders at the five organising universities, sharing insights into their projects and the value of partnering with industry, government, and the third sector.
Networking sessions
Meet other researchers from across Scotland and creatively explore opportunities to collaborate through facilitated, structured networking sessions.
Exhibitors
In the exhibition space, you will meet funders and innovation hubs that can provide support for your impact activities. Interface are exhibiting at this event.
Accelerate your HealthTech solution with University of Glasgow’s Evidence Generation Bootcamp!
Building on the success of the inaugural bootcamp last year, the Digital Health Validation Lab is hosting its second edition on Wednesday 1st and Thursday 2nd of October. This two-day, hands-on event is designed for HealthTech innovators who are ready to accelerate their solutions and drive real-world impact.
In today’s fast-moving and competitive HealthTech landscape, robust evidence is critical to achieving regulatory approval, adoption, scale, and long-term success. This bootcamp provides a practical framework to help you confidently navigate the complexities of evidence generation and build a clear, actionable strategy aligned with your innovation and route to market.
Through expert-led sessions, you’ll gain:
- Clarity on your evidence requirements and how to address them effectively
- Confidence to engage key stakeholders with timely, relevant evidence and navigate complex evidence demands
- A personalised roadmap for evidence generation, tailored to your solution and market strategy
- Improved understanding of approaches to: Patient and Public Involvement (PPI); concept validation; health economic modelling; simulation; technical feasibility and AI performance testing; clinical investigations for regulatory approval; and clinical and cost-effectiveness studies to support adoption.
Who should attend?
HealthTech startups, SMEs, innovation leads, and academic researchers ready to turn a great solution into an evidence-backed, scalable success.
Headline speakers include:
Professor Olivia Wu is a globally recognised authority in Health Technology Assessment (HTA). She holds the prestigious William R Lindsay Chair of Health Economics at the University of Glasgow’s HEHTA and serves as Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy at Mahidol University in Thailand.
Professor Neil Hawkins is a Professor of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) at the University of Glasgow, where he brings decades of cross-sector experience to advancing evidence-based healthcare decision-making. His career spans academia, industry, and consultancy, with contributions across pharmacology, clinical development, epidemiology, and HTA.
Professor David Lowe is an Emergency Consultant at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH), Clinical Director of Innovation at the University of Glasgow, and Clinical Director for Health Innovation for the Scottish Government.
Ticket Price
£295.00 – Early Bird Rate (until 15 August 2025)
£350.00 – Standard Rate (from 16 August 2025)
Please note that registration will close on Friday 19 September.
Airglove innovative healthcare products disrupting the Peripheral Arterial Disease treatment market, improving patient care and leading to clinical efficiency.
Background
Airglove Medical Ltd is a Scottish medical innovations company based in East Kilbride, Scotland. The company was started in July 2016 formerly known as Green Cross Medico Ltd, with Chairman Giovanni (Gio) Benedetti, a serial entrepreneur, the driving force behind the company. They operate with a lean structure, focusing on innovation and collaboration with healthcare institutions.
The company specialises in developing and commercialising healthcare products aimed at improving patient care and clinical efficiency. Their flagship product, Airglove, is a patient warming system designed to facilitate intravenous access by gently warming the patient’s lower arm through an inflatable double walled glove which is thermally regulated, thus making veins more accessible for cannulation.
They developed Airglove Arm (first generation), a thermal vasodilatory, CE certified device designed to facilitate cannulation of the peripheral veins in difficult intravenous access patients (DIVA). Airglove technology provides a safe, convenient and effective way of vasodilation treatment for DIVA patients, but Airglove Medical also recognised that their unique technology could be revolutionary for people who suffer from Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD).
200M people globally suffer from Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) with 716,817 over 55’s in the UK with symptomatic PAD costing on average £23,502 per patient, per year (NICE). This is a common condition where a build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries restricts blood supply to the leg muscles and is treated by diet, reducing weight, reducing alcohol and exercise. However, in the UK every year there are 72,000 angioplasties, 18,000 lower limb bypasses and 3,500 amputations.
Current self-care therapy for PAD is walking therapy, which is difficult for people with moderate-to-severe PAD. Independent exploratory research indicates that gentle heat therapy delivers significant PAD benefits.
The Challenge
Airglove Medical required academic expertise to help develop a second generation Airglove, delivering two distinct units: Airglove LEG for Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) treatment and Airglove ARM for Difficult Intravenous Access (DIVA) treatment to be used in both the UK and globally.
The Solution
Expertise was required in the areas of product design, electronics, electrical engineering and biomedical devices, due to the company’s lack of knowledge in these areas. Jackie Sanderson of Interface connected Airglove Medical with Edinburgh Napier University as they had the necessary expertise and background IP in product, biomedical devices, electronics, electrical and power electronics designs.
Working in partnership with Professor Chan Hwang See and the specialist academic team at Edinburgh Napier University the aim was to develop the first PAD prototype of Airglove LEG (with cradle resting unit).
Two new improved versions of the practical prototype of Airglove LEG resting unit (“Cradle”) were designed, built and tested at Edinburgh Napier’s in-house facility.
Several heat transfer measurements of the Airglove LEG unit were setup and carried out with good indication of thermal distribution on the human leg and by testing the power handling performance of the Airglove ARM unit, the results suggested that the existing 300W motor would suffice for the new Airglove LEG unit, leading to the development of a simulated electronic prototype for the Airglove unit.
Four students, three final year undergraduate students and one MSc student were involved in the product design including Computer Aided Design (CAD) drawing and prototyping, Printed Circuit Board (PCB) design and testing, electrical engineering as well as contributing to the medical device and signal processing of the product.
The students proposed new electronics features, i.e. remote control, battery power, new sensors, smart control unit and wireless connectivity of the device, for the future advanced model of the Airglove unit.
The project was funded through a Standard Innovation Voucher and Advanced Innovation Voucher.
The Benefits
- Redesigning Airglove for the PAD market will be a disrupter, improving PAD treatment outcomes, increasing patient mobility, minimising leg amputations, and delivering cost savings for the NHS.
- Development of Airglove technology for Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) opens up a significantly larger market for Airglove Medical Ltd both in the UK and internationally.
- Airglove LEG supports the UK Government’s Healthy Ageing Grand Challenge and the NHS backlog reduction focussed on “New treatments and diagnostic and streamlined surgical methods believed to result in more patients being seen to quickly and safely”.
- Airglove technology has earned Airglove Medical Ltd several awards including the Seal of Excellence from the European Commission (2019), Runner-Up in the Medilink West Midlands Medical & Healthcare Business Awards for Partnership with the NHS (2018), shortlisted in the Medilink North Medical & Healthcare Business Awards for Partnership with the NHS (2025) and a finalist for Innovation of the Year at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards (2024).
Academic Benefits
- Four students, three final year undergraduate students and one MSc student, involved in this project, have gained good industrial experience. They will be able to use the transferable skills and knowledge gained in product design, electronics circuit design, presentation, and communication skills from this project for their future career.
- Applying the academic knowledge to new products designed for commercially established markets will deliver impact on accelerated timescales raising the profile and demonstrating the strengths of the university and its scope for further industrial collaboration.
- The knowledge generated through this project will support future funding applications, inform several final-year and MSc student projects, and contribute to teaching materials—helping to equip the next generation of engineers with up-to-date, industry-relevant expertise.
The Next Steps
- The Airglove LEG working prototype is to be used in the Human Factors Research and 1st Phase patient service evaluation trials in conjunction with Professor Philip Stather, Consultant Vascular and Endovascular Surgeon, Norfolk & Norwich University hospital.
- An Innovate UK Fast Start Grant of £50K was secured to help further develop a new product, Airglove mobile. Airglove Medical Ltd are looking at other funding resources such as innovate UK, KTP etc. to continue to develop the advanced features of the Airglove unit.
- Airglove Medical Ltd aim to apply for a Scottish Enterprise SMART Grant to continue the Airglove project and develop the Airglove unit for both the arm and the leg with AI technology.
- Several BEng and MSc projects to be set up.
Be part of the conversation at the Art of Possible session on 19th June at the Glasgow Science Centre.
As part of the #Glasgow 850 celebrations, this Art of Possible session will highlight Glasgow’s remarkable health and life sciences journey—a story that blends centuries of scientific discovery with today’s cutting-edge medical technologies. The Glasgow’s Innovation Journey campaign is a year-long initiative showcasing how Glasgow’s industrial past has laid the foundation for the high-tech advancements of today. This month, the focus is on the city’s thriving health and life sciences sector, from breakthroughs in biotechnology and medical research to pioneering technologies that enhance patient care. Glasgow continues to lead the way in global health innovation.
This Art of Possible session will explore how technology is transforming and democratising healthcare — making it more accessible, personalised, and efficient for all.
Join the panel of experts to examine how emerging technologies are transforming areas such as early disease detection, patient wellbeing, and precision medicine. From robot-assisted surgery and ultrasonic imaging to AI-powered diagnostics, the session will explore how Glasgow’s health tech innovators are tackling global health challenges while breaking down barriers to more personalised care.
Whether it’s through data-led approaches or immersive AR/VR tools for patient and clinician support, the region’s ecosystem is shaping a future where location and circumstance no longer determine access to high-quality healthcare.
Who is Speaking?
- Dr Stephen Breslin – Chief Executive, Glasgow Science Centre
- Janette Hughes – Director of Planning & Performance, The Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI) (Chair)Nico Fenu – CEO & Founder, Nami Surgical
- Dr Paul Chapman – Director of Emerging Technology, The Glasgow School of Art
- More speakers to be confirmed soon
This will be a valuable session for business leaders, researchers, technologists, innovators, and entrepreneurs.
TecTonic Night Summit is an immersive, collaborative celebration of innovation and community, bringing people together through evening gatherings alongside business conferences and fringe events across Scotland.
Blending the energy of a live community gathering with the insight and business showcase elements of a conference, TecTonic events are an inclusive, dynamic showcase of connectivity and creativity within Scotland’s digital business landscape and startup ecosystem.
The name reflects the movement, intersection, and constant evolution of ideas, innovation, relationships, and collaboration across sectors, industries, and enterprise.
For each event, we draw together a new team of established and emerging Community Leaders to ensure fresh ideas and opportunities each year.
Key to the vision of the project is promoting a positive, united front of business support organisations and community groups, not just to showcase the incredible ecosystem we have, but also to create real opportunities for collaboration and cross-pollination between networks.
Jackie Sanderson and Elaine Sneddon of Interface will be attending this event.
‘Scotland: Creating the Jobs of Tomorrow’ aims to help shape Scotland’s economic future by showcasing how innovation can drive growth and create high-quality jobs.
The conference will feature distinguished speakers, including:
- The Rt Hon Gordon Brown
- David Sainsbury, Lord Sainsbury of Turville, Former Science and Innovation Minister
- The Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP, Minister of State for Trade Policy and Economic Security
- Anas Sarwar MSP, Leader of the Scottish Labour Party
- Professor Michael Spence, Nobel prize-winning economist
- Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of University of Glasgow
- Jim Rowan, Former CEO Volvo Cars
- Chris van der Kuyl, Tech entrepreneur
- Dame Kate Bingham, Former Chair of the UK’s Vaccines Task Force
- Kasim Kutay, CEO of Novo Holdings
- Saul Klein, Leading venture capital investor
- Dan Turner, Political scientist
- Dr Poonam Malik, Convener of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Economy and Enterprise Committee and Scottish Enterprise board member
- Dr Susie Mitchell, Programme Manager of Glasgow Riverside Innovation District, University of Glasgow
- Professor Andrew Morris, Vice-Principal of Data Science at the University of Edinburgh, Director of Health Data Research UK and President of the Academy of Medical Sciences
- Professor Mairi Spowage, Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde
- These leaders will share their insights on leveraging Scotland’s industrial and research strengths to build a more prosperous and productive future.
Discussions will focus on how local, Scottish, and UK governments can support these efforts, drawing on a wide range of insights from Scotland and around the world.
Attendees will also have the opportunity to network with business, professional, political, and academic leaders who are committed to driving economic growth and reducing poverty.
This event is organised by Our Scottish Future, in association with Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and the University of Glasgow, and is a not-to-be-missed event for anyone interested in the future of Scotland’s economy.
Taking place at the Technology and Innovation Centre, this event will bring together experts from academia, industry and government to address scientific and technical opportunities and challenges in Scotland.
The day will feature workshops and roundtable discussions on diverse topics including policy, innovation and education. This event will also feature a lunchtime address and a networking break which will bring together delegates from across the conference.
These sessions are aimed at SMEs who wish to hear more about what resources are available to them locally. It will feature presentations from organisations that have been set up to provide specialist knowledge and capabilities, funding providers and regional support networks.
Amelia Whitelaw, Director, Interface will be part of panel session on funding.
This Royal Society event is part of a wider event, Creating Connections in Scotland 2025, which is part of a meeting series organised by the Society and aims to address the scientific and technical opportunities and challenges faced by different regions across the UK.
This event is free to attend by invitation. To request an invitation, please contact industry@royalsociety.org.
For more information on the day visit https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2025/06/creating-connections-scotland/