| Kumar Bhattacharyya, Baron Bhattacharyya | |
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Sushanta Kumar Bhattacharyya, Baron Bhattacharyya, CBE (born 6 June 1940) is an Indian-born British engineer, educator and government advisor.
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 at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and the University of Birmingham where he attained an MSc in Engineering Production and Management and a PhD in Engineering Production.
In 1980 he became Professor of Manufacturing Systems at the University of Warwick and founded the Warwick Manufacturing Group. He has been Director of the Warwick Manufacturing Group, now rebranded as WMG, since its inception. WMG is focused on research, education and innovation in collaboration with private and public sector organisations in the UK and internationally [1].
A biography of Kumar Bhattacharyya by Andrew Lorenz, former Business Editor of The Sunday Times, was published by Random House business books in 2002.
He married Brigid Rabbitt in 1981 and they have three daughters.
Kumar Bhattacharyya is a past member of the UK Council for Science and Technology. He has also served as a scientific adviser to the South African government. He is a Trustee of the Institute for Public Policy Research and served on the National Consumer Council from 1990 to 1993.
As an academic Kumar Bhattacharyya has played a prominent role in raising the status of engineering and manufacturing in the UK. In 1998 he was awarded the Mensforth International Gold Medal by the Institution of Electrical Engineers for the outstanding international contribution to manufacturing engineering and management.
In the same year he was also awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Institute for Logistics and Transport. This was followed in 1999 by the Institute's Sir Robert Lawrence Award for Services to Logistics[2].
He was appointed CBE in 1997 and knighted in 2003. In January 2002 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the President of India[3].
In 2004, he was made 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[4].
In 2005 he was awarded the Duncan Davies Medal, awarded by the Research and Development society to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to research and development in the UK.
In 2011, Kumar Bhattacharyya was awarded Honorary Membership of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) which is given for ability and stature, plus contribution of substantial skills and talent to accomplish the goals of the Society [5]. He was also ranked number one in Insider's 2011 Power 100 list.
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