Kumar Bhattacharyya, Baron Bhattacharyya

Early life and career

Kumar Bhattacharyya was born in Dhaka (then part of British-India, now capital of Bangladesh). His father was a professor of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

Bhattacharyya studied Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He moved to Britain in the 1960s where he worked for six years as a graduate apprentice at Lucas Industries, a large British manufacturing company. During this time, he studied at the University of Birmingham where he attained an MSc in Engineering Production and Management and a PhD in Engineering Production. While completing his PhD at Birmingham, he was appointed as a Lecturer and began the process of establishing a manufacturing education programme for industry there.

In 1980 he moved to the University of Warwick and, with the support of Vice-Chancellor, Jack Butterworth, he founded WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group) of which he is now chairman. WMG is now one of the largest academic departments of the University known for its collaborative research and education programmes with industry. During this time, he has been instrumental in brokering some significant partnerships for UK manufacturing including the takeover of Jaguar Land Rover by Indian firm Tata Motors in 2008 and the investment in the National Automotive Innovation Centre at the University of Warwick.

Bhattacharyya was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1997 New Year Honours and knighted in 2003. On 3 June 2004, he was created a life peer as Baron Bhattacharyya, of Moseley in the County of West Midlands. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords.

In 2014, he was elected as a Fellow of The Royal Society. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a number of other professional bodies including the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Indian National Academy of Engineering and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

Kumar Bhattacharyya is a past member of the UK Council for Science and Technology and a past board member of Advantage West Midlands, the West Midlands Regional Development Agency (RDA). He has also served as a scientific adviser to the government of South Africa. He sits on the Policy Advisory Council of the Institute for Public Policy Research and served on the National Consumer Council from 1990 to 1993.

House of Lords

Kumar Bhattacharyya sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords. His focus is on policy areas such as business and industry, economy and finance, education, international affairs and science and technology. Throughout his career, he has been a passionate advocate for engineering innovation and the revival of British industry. Lord Baker has paid tribute to his enormous contribution to technical education in the UK as "quite remarkable".

Media

Kumar Bhattacharyya writes a regular opinion column for the Birmingham Post.

Books

In 2002, Andrew Lorenz wrote a book about Bhattacharyya's career and the growth of WMG, entitled Kumar Bhattacharyya: The Unsung Guru.

Awards and Honours

His nomination for the Royal Society reads:

"Kumar Bhattacharyya is the founder and leader of the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) whose mission is to improve the competitiveness of industry through innovative collaborative research, educational and knowledge transfer programmes WMG employs over 300 staff with a similar number seconded from industry. It has a global reputation in automotive research, the built environment, digital technology and healthcare systems. Kumar Bhattacharyya was the primary architect of the Integrated Graduate Development Scheme, now considered best practice in CPD by many Universities, and was the first to run the Eng Doc programme on similar principles. In 30 years, the Education programmes have involved over 25,000 individuals and over 500 UK companies. Bhattacharyya has received many international honours, awards and honorary doctorates."