The University of Manchester’s partnership with National Grid is one of six exceptional industry-academic collaborations shortlisted by The Royal Academy of Engineering and WMG at the University of Warwick for the second annual Bhattacharyya Award.
Today’s shortlisting for the Bhattacharyya Award, which celebrates strategic industrial collaborations that benefit society, recognises Manchester’s and National Grid’s long tradition of innovating at pace to ensure the UK has access to reliable, affordable, and environmentally sustainable energy.
Spanning more than 19 years, the partnership has delivered significant CO2 reductions, increased productivity, stimulated large investment in new jobs and engineering activity in the UK, and has facilitated the safe transfer of cleaner and affordable energy in a Net Zero future electricity network.
In overhead line research alone, the knowledge generated has provided approximately £11m in cost savings to the UK energy network and enabled a new design – the T-Pylon – which now delivers power to six million homes.
“OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIONAL GRID, IS FOCUSED ONE SHARED GOAL: TO DELIVER REAL IMPACT. AT MANCHESTER WE’RE COMMITTED TO DELIVERING AN EQUITABLE AND PROSPEROUS NET ZERO ENERGY FUTURE. WITH NATIONAL GRID, WE HAVE FOUND A PARTNER WHO SHARES THIS AMBITION. WE ARE PROUD OF OUR SUSTAINED COMMITMENT OF DELIVERING REAL SOLUTIONS THAT CAN BE DEPLOYED ONTO THE NETWORK.“
-Professor Ian Cotton, Professor of High Voltage Technology
Manchester and National Grid have been shortlisted alongside: University of Birmingham and Rolls-Royce, University of Cambridge and ARM, Imperial College London and Transport Strategy Centre, Swansea University and Steel Strategic Alliance, and University College London, HR Wallingford and Arup.
The Bhattacharyya Award and a cash prize of £25,000 will be presented to the team who best demonstrate how industry and universities can work together. The winning partnership will be announced on 29 September 2022.
Professor Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE FREng FRS, former President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Chair of the judging panel for the Bhattacharyya Award, said: “All six shortlisted partnerships are excellent examples of industry-academia collaboration, with timely and innovative responses to some of the most challenging issues facing society today. It is a privilege to showcase these successful collaborations and we hope that doing so fosters even greater connection between industry and academia in the UK.”
Margot James, Executive Chair of WMG, University of Warwick, said: “It’s great to see the extremely high quality of industry-academia partnerships shortlisted for the second annual Bhattacharyya Award. As a celebration of Lord Bhattacharyya’s legacy, the Award continues to highlight how building symmetry between academia and industry is so vital for meeting the needs of society, and adapting to global challenges. We look forward to seeing which collaboration is selected as the overall winner.”
The winner of the Bhattacharyya Award will be announced on Thursday 29 September 2022, at an event showcasing the shortlisted partnerships at the University of Warwick.
Those wishing to attend the Bhattacharyya Award ceremony can register via the Academy’s website.
Applications for Bhattacharyya Award 2023 are now open until 16 December 2022 and can be submitted via the Academy’s online grant system.
