Chairman and Founder of WMG, Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, has been recognised by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhubaneswar with an honorary award which was presented to him earlier this month by the President of India.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya was conferred with the degree of D.Sc. (Honoris Causa) during the 2nd Convocation of the Institute held on 7th September.

The award was presented to Professor Lord Bhattacharyya by Chief Guest at the ceremony, the Honorable President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, who also delivered the Convocation Address to the graduating students.

IIT Bhubaneswar is an engineering and technology higher education institute, located at in the Indian state of Orissa. It is one of a number of Indian Institutes of Technology established across the country, awarding degrees from BTech to PhD. Professor Lord Bhattacharyya is, himself, an alumnus of Bhubaneswar’s sister institute, IIT Kharagpur.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya has been widely recognised for founding WMG at the University of Warwick in 1980. He has published extensively in the field of manufacturing and is advisor to many companies and organisations around the world. He was awarded a knighthood in 2003 for services to higher education and industry and was elevated to the House of Lords in 2004.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya's links with business and industry have been a critical part of WMG's success. He was the longest serving member of the UK Council for Science and Technology and has served on numerous national committees on trade, industrial and science issues.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya advises many companies and governments on matters of industrial policy and strategy. He is closely associated with very many organisations in countries including China, Malaysia, Thailand and South Africa. Governments including the United States, India, Germany and China have come to the group to study how WMG operates in order to develop similar centres in their own countries.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya has received a number of international awards including the Padma Bhushan from the President of India for services to science, technology and industry. In 2008 his alma mater, IIT Kharagpur awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Sciences, the institution's highest accolade with previous recipients including Mother Theresa and Ratan Tata.