Awards set up to honour Warwick Manufacturing Group founder

Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya

Awards in honour of the founder of Warwick Manufacturing Group Lord Bhattacharyya are being set up with the aim of encouraging young people into engineering.

Lord Bhattacharyya, who passed away in March, was formerly Regius Professor of Manufacturing at Warwick University and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. As the founder of Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) he was widely recognised globally for his position as a leading light in the fields of manufacturing, engineering and technology.

The reputation of WMG and Lord Bhattacharyya’s status as one of the UK’s foremost experts in manufacturing saw successive administrations call on his expert advice for a range of initiatives, including most recently the Government’s investment in battery technology through the Faraday Challenge.

Business Secretary Greg Clark announced in the House of Commons two tributes designed to reflect Lord Bhattacharyya’s life and achievements by championing excellence in engineering education, and industry-academia collaboration. They are:

A Bhattacharyya Award for sustained collaboration between universities and industry. This award, administered by the Royal Academy of Engineering, will recognise the types of partnership being championed by the Government’s Industrial Strategy, that bring together academia and industry to tackle challenges across sectors; and

A Bhattacharyya Engineering Inclusion Programme in the South West Midlands area. This Programme will be an engineering Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) education support programme for schools and FE colleges in the region, providing a providing a range of extra-curricular activities, resources and bursaries to engage and inspire young people to pursue further study and careers in engineering.

Clark said: “Today I am pleased to announce a tribute to celebrate the contribution Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya has made to the UK, since he came here from India in 1961.

“He founded and led Warwick Manufacturing Group for nearly 40 years. Through his leadership, WMG has developed a global reputation in automotive research, the built environment, digital technology and healthcare systems, built on strong collaborations between academia and industry.

“Successive UK governments have drawn on his advice on manufacturing and technology and built strong lasting collaborative relationships with India and China. Kumar Bhattacharyya also championed high quality technical education so the tribute I am announcing today reflects both these important aspects of his work.”

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