Dmitry Bogachov, an advanced materials surface engineer, who is driving development work during Sandon Global’s three-year chromium oxide coating project, has won a Future Innovator Award during the recent online Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) ceremony.

The KTP programme creates partnerships through which academic/research teams, graduates (known as KTP Associates), and UK-based companies collaborate to drive innovation.

The KTP Best of the Best Awards celebrate the most outstanding outputs of these collaborations. The judges – made up of a panel of experts drawn from internal and external bodies – had a tough task creating a shortlist from approximately 800 KTP Associates and deciding on the eight winners in The Future Innovator category. These winners all posses exceptional skills in driving and delivering innovation strategy, demonstrating great teamwork, and outstanding leadership potential.

Sandon Global MD, Richard Millington, comments: ‘It’s hard to believe Dmitry only joined us two years ago. In that time, he has bridged the gap between academia and industry, and has become a vital part of our team as we develop the brand way beyond that of a standard anilox manufacturer.’

In other company news, a new purpose-built head office in Liverpool (UK) – which will provide extra production capacity for Sandon’s anilox rolls, sleeves and gravure cylinders and accommodate a state-of-the-art R&D centre – is scheduled to open next spring.

The site is expected to create up to 10 apprenticeships annually, plus 30 skilled jobs over the next five years.