Honorary doctorate to Lord Bhattacharyya
Chancellor Dr Alan Finkel AM, Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, and Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner
Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya Kt CBE FREng FRS has been recognised with an honorary doctorate from Monash University.
Chancellor Dr Alan Finkel AO conferred the Doctor of Laws honoris causa on Professor Lord Bhattacharyya at a ceremony at the University’s Clayton campus yesterday.
The University’s highest honour recognised his significant achievement as the founder of the Warwick Manufacturing Group WMG, raising the status of engineering and manufacturing in the UK and globally, and for his role in facilitating global collaboration with industry through research and education.
As chairman and founder of the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick, for more than 35 years Professor Lord Bhattacharyya has been an advocate of manufacturing and collaborating with industry through research and education. WMG’s mission has been to improve the competitiveness of organisations through the application of value adding innovation, new technologies and skills deployment, bringing academic rigour to industrial and organisational practice. The group has grown into a global force in a wide range of fields, from automotive research to innovations in healthcare.
Professor Lord Bhattacharyya has also contributed to the development of the alliance between Monash University and the University of Warwick. Established in 2012, the Monash Warwick Alliance offers a new model for research-led institutions to meet the global challenges of the 21st century.
“For more than three decades, Lord Bhattacharyya has improved the competitiveness of the global manufacturing industry from exploitation of his early patents in machining through to the programmes of the Warwick Manufacturing Group,” Dr Finkel said.
“He has significantly contributed to the alliance between Monash University and the University of Warwick - creating a new approach to higher education through partnership between manufacturing and university research and teaching.”
Upon accepting the University’s highest honour, Lord Bhattacharyya addressed several hundred graduating students.
“It is an honour to be awarded this Honorary Doctorate by Monash University, an internationally recognised home to innovative engineering research solutions and exceptional teaching,” Professor Lord Bhattacharyya said.
“As Chairman of WMG, I am pleased to see the Monash Warwick Alliance bringing academics, manufacturers and students together to enable world-leading collaborations with businesses and exciting opportunities for next generation of engineers.
“This is the same ethos in which I created WMG, over 34 years ago, to bridge the gap between academia and industry, and to provide education programmes which enabled people to learn new skills and explore research to help their business grow. Since then we have seen many successful products developed and people succeed in business, which shows this is a winning formula.”
Professor Lord Bhattacharyya has published extensively in the field of manufacturing and is advisor to many companies, governments and organisations around the world. He has received many international honours and awards. He was honoured with a CBE in 1997, awarded a knighthood in 2003 for services to higher education and industry and was elevated to the Lords in 2004.