Indian engineer wins British award for innovation

A software engineer from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has received a prestigious British award for developing an innovative electronic smart key system.

Nandagopal Lakshminarayan, who has been working as a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) associate at Lincoln Security Ltd. for the past two years, won the "Business Leader of the Future" award at Innovate Britain's "KTP Best of the Best Awards 2015", a company statement said.

Lakshminarayan was awarded in November but the announcement was made public on Tuesday.

The software for the electronic locking system, called eLOQ, enables the creation and management of electronic keys and locks that cannot be copied or picked.

"The project has enabled me to get involved in both the academic and business sides. The KTP project has presented a unique challenge because it was not just about innovation and technicality but also about creating awareness of a new product," Lakshminarayan said.

John Murray, principal lecturer in the University of Lincoln's School of Computer Science, said: "The project has been very fortunate to have recruited Nanda. He came with a predominantly embedded hardware background which meant that although he had good programming skills, there was a lot for Nanda to learn."

"However, very quickly he had taken up the challenge and has been one of the most enthusiastic and diligent people I've had the pleasure of working with," he added.

Lincoln Security has established a separate company, Dynamic Access Solutions, in order to take the product to market.

"The KTP between the university and the company has enabled the company to diversify the business and offer a unique product when compared to traditional locking systems that meets the needs of the 21st Century," said Peter Corlett, managing director for Dynamic Access Solutions Ltd.

"Over the past two years Nanda has provided the company with the necessary skills to develop a high-level online management platform where keys and locks can be programmed and managed," he said.

Britain's national KTP scheme helps businesses to innovate and grow by linking them with a university to work on a specific project.