Ronita Torcato 

England’s University of Warrick  has just turned 60 and is marking the event with meetings in India underlining the key roles Indians have played  in taking it into the top ten.

 

Its WMG ( Warwick Manufacturing Group)  was founded by an Indian, Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya. The late Ratan Tata  helped establish the National Automotive Innovation Centre (NAIC)  a collaborative research center funded by Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Motors, the University, and the UK government. In 2005,  Tata was awarded an honorary doctorate by Warwick University.

 

WMG apart, the University has longstanding connections with India across its three faculties; Arts, Science, Engineering & Medicine, and Social Sciences according to staff visiting from Warwick to celebrate the University’s “growing  excellence and influence across the globe and in India.”

 

In Mumbai,  Satnam Rana Grindley, Warwick’s Director of Communications & Marketing, and her Deputy Ajay Teli,  discussed the University and its “student community that continues to shape the future across borders, driving change, and strengthening the UK economy while giving back to India through entrepreneurial ventures.”

 

 Thousands of research projects are conducted at Warwick,  Grindley said, adding that 92 percent of the University’s research is ranked world  class.

 

Teli said 38 percent of Warwick students come from 115 countries of which 1,100 students are from India. The new AI course is very popular, he said.

  

Warwick Business School alumnus Parth Kanetkar ( MBA 2010-2011) who left Singapore after  two decades to work with  Capgemini Investments in Mumbai as Associate Director recalled the  ” awesome Sports Centre and a Career Centre which also helps with soft skills and networking. “ 

 

Shreya Mittal, a BSc in Management with  Entrepreneurship ( September 2021- July 2024 ) said Warwick stresses “character development as well. I found the course is  flexible even though I was studying full time and the campus is beautiful.”  Mittal is co-Founder and CMO of fast growing Cava Athleisure in Bengaluru.

 

Warwick hosts 300 societies including an award winning Indian society, a language society offering a Hindi course  initiated by Warrick Business School’s Dr Neha Gupta as well as a Sikh society which hosts an annual langar.

 

 More importantly,  researchers in Warwick Education Studies and Warwick Law School are collaborating with partners in India to strengthen the efforts of state universities and government colleges based in rural and semi-urban areas in delivering on the equity and social justice agenda.