Raised profile launches projects into new orbits

Staff morale at Leeds Metropolitan University has soared since the institution won the 2006 Times Higher award for its outstanding contribution to the local community.

"Within the university it has been a huge morale boost to receive some recognition for the hard work that we do across all our community activities," said David Ward, business development manager.

The award was in recognition of the university's partnership with Bradford City Football Club, which was helped out of administration by staff at Leeds Met.

But Mr Ward, who was seconded to the club as part of the partnership, said the honour had boosted all the university's community activities - including its volunteering programmes.

"It has helped to raise our profile across the region," he said.

The award also helped create a platform for further partnerships with local sports clubs.

A partnership with Leeds Rugby has seen the renaming of the famous Headingley rugby stadium as the Headingley Carnegie Stadium, to incorporate the name of Leeds Met's Carnegie faculty of sport and education, and the launch of the new Carnegie Stand, which includes 12 seminar rooms and gives the university a permanent base at the ground.

Since winning the award for outstanding contribution to innovation and technology, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd has gone from strength to strength.

SSTL, a spin-off from Surrey University's department of electronic engineering, won the prize for developing space technology that has provided support for relief missions after disasters such as the Indian Ocean tsunami.

SSTL also received the Royal Institute of Navigation's gold medal for an outstanding contribution to navigation.

Last month, it won the contract from the European Space Agency to build a second satellite for the Galileo satellite navigation system and launched the Cibola Flight Experiment Satellite, which will conduct studies of lightning.