E-Paper
Royal honour for Bhattacharyya’s Warwick Manufacturing Group
The Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick, founded by Indian-origin engineer-educator Kumar Bhattacharyya, has been officially conferred the prestigious Regius Professorship, given by the British queen to recognise exceptionally high quality research.
The Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick, founded by Indian-origin engineer-educator Kumar Bhattacharyya, has been officially conferred the prestigious Regius Professorship, given by the British queen to recognise exceptionally high quality research.
Bhattacharyya, who is also a member of the House of Lords, is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur.
“Having founded WMG in 1980 to invigorate UK manufacturing, it is a wonderful honour to be bestowed upon the group,” Bhattacharyya said, adding, “this is recognition to every member of staff, over the last 35 years, who has contributed to our success”.
WMG has close links with Indian industry, notably with the Tata Group, Confederation of Indian Industry and Indian Institutes of Technology.
Minister for the Constitution Chris Skidmore awarded the Royal Warrant to WMG at the University of Warwick, officially conferring Queen Elizabeth’s recognition with the title of the Regius Professor of Manufacturing (Engineering).
The University of Warwick was one of 12 universities honoured to mark the queen’s 90th Birthday.
Previous to this, only 14 had been granted since the reign of Queen Victoria. It is believed that the first Regius Professorship was conferred to Aberdeen University in 1497 by King James IV, official sources said.
In the past, Regius Professorships were limited to a handful of the ancient universities of the United Kingdom and Ireland, such as Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Trinity College, Dublin.
