Engineer is jewel of India

More than thirty years after leaving Calcutta, a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Auckland has received two of India’s highest honours for ex-residents.

Faculty of Engineering Professor Debes Bhattacharyya has been awarded the Hind Rattan (jewel of India) for his significant professional contributions, and in a separate event, the Glory of Bengal, for outstanding contributions by a person of Bengali origin.

Professor Bhattacharyya established and leads a major research centre which develops composite materials. Composites are engineered lightweight materials with superior qualities, used by industry to develop new products and technologies.

The Centre for Advanced Composites Materials operates from a purpose built facility at the University’s Tamaki campus. It has engineered new materials for everything from food packaging to aircraft and medical devices, collaborating with many New Zealand and international companies.

Professor Bhattacharyya is only the second New Zealander to receive a Hind Rattan. About 30 of the awards are giving annually in New Delhi by the NRI Welfare Society of India, at an elaborate ceremony attended by Government ministers.

“I was very humbled to receive this award. There are millions of Indians living around the world so to have been selected is a great honour. The Hind Rattan is usually dominated by Indian’s living in the US, and it is quite rare for it to be awarded to an engineer. In fact, at first I thought it was a hoax until my family convinced me it was authentic,” he says.

The Glory of Bengal, awarded in Doha, Qatar, is given to about 12 Bengalis living around the world, and among doctors and engineers, it is also commonly awarded to singers and actors.

Professor Bhattacharyya attended both award ceremonies earlier in the year.

Professor Bhattacharyya was born in Calcutta, attending the University of Calcutta before relocating to Western Australia, and then Auckland. He joined The University of Auckland in 1980.

Earlier this month he was made a Distinguished Fellow, the highest award, of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ). He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society NZ, a rare honour for an engineer.