Martin Fausset, managing director of Ricardo UK Ltd, has been awarded an honorary engineering doctorate by the University of Brighton for his “major contribution to the aeronautical and automotive industries”.
Based in Shoreham, West Sussex, Ricardo is a global engineering, environmental and strategic consultancy for the automotive, defence and ‘clean energy’ sectors.
Andrew Lloyd, Dean of the university’s Faculty of Science and Engineering, said: “The UK automotive and aeronautical industries have consistently remained at the forefront of engineering innovation, and few individuals have contributed as significantly to both industries in the UK as Martin Fausset.”
Professor Lloyd said that Ricardo and the university have built a strategic research partnership under Mr Fausset’s leadership: “The partnership capitalises on the university’s expertise in laser diagnostic techniques and modelling to inform the design and development of novel low-carbon internal-combustion systems to improve fuel efficiency and
reduce CO2 emissions.
During the last 10 years, this underpinned an expansion of the research facilities at the university and the creation of the Sir Harry Ricardo Research Laboratories, which supports joint projects between Brighton, Ricardo and automotive manufacturers such as BMW, Toyota and Chrysler, as well as petroleum companies that include BP and Petronas.
“With Martin’s appointment, this partnership has continued to flourish. He has led a £10 million initiative in collaboration with the university — and with support from the UK Regional Growth Fund — to build a new Emissions Research Centre at Shoreham.
“The partnership has also recently secured a commitment of £7 million from the Government to establish an Advanced Engineering Centre at the university to support further expansion of our joint research programmes.”