WMG founder recognised with honorary degree
The founder of Warwick Manufacturing Group has been recognised for his contribution to business and engineering with the award of an honorary degree.
Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya has been recognised by the University of York.
Lord Bhattacharyya began his career as graduate apprentice at Lucas; subsequently gaining an MSc and PhD in Engineering Production at the University of Birmingham.
In 1980, he became Professor of Manufacturing Systems at the University of Warwick; founding Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) to help business innovation and support university researchers.
Today, WMG is one of the world’s top applied research centres, combining academic excellence and global business results.
During the organisation’s lifespan, Lord Bhattacharyya has brokered partnerships, including Jaguar Land Rover’s acquisition by Tata, advised industry and governments internationally and sat on the UK Council for Science and Technology. He is also a Fellow of The Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering.
He was awarded the Padma Bhusan by the President of India and the Chinese Government Friendship Award by Vice-Premier Ma Kai.
He was appointed a CBE in 1997, knighted in 2003 for services to education and industry, and made a life peer in 2004.
In 2013 he was awarded an honorary DSc by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhubaneswar, an engineering and technology higher education institute, located at in the Indian state of Orissa. Lord Bhattacharyya is an alumnus of Bhubaneswar’s sister institute, IIT Kharagpur.
