Royal Academy of Engineering announces new Lord Bhattacharyya bursary winners for students in Coventry - The Coventry Observer

Royal Academy of Engineering announces new Lord Bhattacharyya bursary winners for students in Coventry

Coventry Editorial 8th Mar, 2021   0

FOUR outstanding Coventry University engineering students have won a bursary as part an ambitious new engineering education programme in honour of the UK’s first ever Professor of Manufacturing and founder of WMG at Warwick University.

Civil Engineering students Abdulhakim Fundikira and Jessica Oliver, Electrical and Electronic Engineering student Farid Moulaye and Engineering student Saman Salih were awarded higher education bursaries for the 2020-2021 academic year, as part of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Lord Bhattacharyya Engineering Education Programme.

Post-16 technical education bursaries for this academic year have also been awarded to students studying at WMG Academy for Young Engineers, Coventry WMG Academy for Young Engineers, Solihull and Warwickshire College, Rugby.

Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE, Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “We want more young people from all backgrounds to have the opportunity to make a difference through a career in engineering.




“This programme is supporting young people in the West Midlands to discover how they could make an impact by studying engineering as well as removing some of the barriers that might prevent them going into technical education.

“I am sure Professor Lord Bhattacharyya would approve of the positive contribution of this initiative in a region that is synonymous with his passion and commitment to engineering innovation.”


Lord Bhattacharyya, who died in March 2019, was Britain’s first ever Professor of Manufacturing he founded WMG at the University  of Warwick in 1980 – one of the world’s top applied research centres, with a reputation for academic excellence and business results across the globe. Winners were announced to mark the second anniversary of his death.

This innovative programme recognises outstanding achievements in the field and will also deliver science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education support for students and teachers. More than £44,000 has been allocated to 20 secondary schools and further education colleges across the West Midlands this academic year.

They include Ash Green School, Coventry Sidney Stringer Academy, Coventry, Whitley Academy, Coventry, WMG Academy for Young Engineers, Coventry, Ernesford Grange Community Academy, Coventry, Eden Girls’ School, Coventry and Blue Coat C of E School and Music College, Coventry.

Science Minister Amanda Solloway said: “Through this bursary programme, inspired by the legacy of Lord Bhattacharyya, I am delighted we are able to provide a launchpad for the UK’s next generation of highly skilled engineers right in the heart of the West Midlands, building on the region’s proud tradition of engineering and manufacturing.”

Jointly led by the Royal Academy of Engineering and WMG at the University of Warwick, the programme has been made possible by government funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

It will provide up to 6,000 STEM learning opportunities for young people each year. Students will also be able to apply for up to 90 bursaries each year to support progression on to full-time engineering technical education or degree courses.

Professor Robin Clark, Dean of WMG, University of Warwick, Coventry, said: “We are delighted to be working with the Royal Academy of Engineering to deliver the Lord Bhattacharyya Engineering Education Programme.

“We are looking forward to helping enable the opportunities this will provide for the students involved, as well as the advantages it will bring for their schools and colleges.

“This is a great opportunity for us to deliver on the Government’s ambitions for developing the next generation of engineers to fill the skills gaps in engineering.”

Applications for higher education bursaries for academic year 2021/2022 will open in Spring 2021 to students planning to study engineering at degree-level. For more information see here.

Read more about the Lord Bhattacharyya Engineering Education Programme here.

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