MBA students receive Imperial’s first Sainsbury Management Fellows scholarships

Two incoming MBA students at the Business School have been awarded a prestigious scholarship for engineering graduates worth £50,000 each.

Jayshan Ratnakumar and Ahmad Khattab who start on the Full-Time MBA in September, are the first Imperial students to be awarded the Sainsbury Management Fellows award, a scholarship administered by the Royal Academy of Engineering that enables people from an engineering background to gain an MBA from a leading business school.

Imperial College Business School has joined 13 other top international business schools in offering the scholarship to graduates. It is the first time in 17 years that the Sainsbury Management Fellows MBA scholarship has added a new business school to its roster.

Imperial was incorporated into the Sainsbury Management Fellows scholarship scheme because of the strong links between the Faculty of Engineering and the Business School and how these collaborations have helped produce business leaders who understand both technology and the fundamentals of business to help them succeed in a digital-driven world.

Jayshan Ratnakumar

Jayshan Ratnakumar graduated from Imperial with a Masters in Engineering in 2014 and was most recently a Lead Mechanical Engineer at GreenSpur, a company that uses electromagnetic innovation to develop, build and commercialise a new wind turbine solution to help revolutionise the renewable energy sector.

"This scholarship will help accelerate my long-term career goal to commercialise innovative technologies in the renewable energy sector.” Jayshan Ratnakumar MBA student, Business School

Discussing his scholarship award he said: “I’m delighted to receive this scholarship and to have the backing of and support from the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Sainsbury Management Fellowship network. Knowing that I have this support and access to a wealth of knowledge and wisdom has fuelled my motivation to get the most out of my MBA at Imperial.

“Imperial’s MBA was the ideal choice as it will provide me with a foundational knowledge to approach business challenges and allow me to access the institution’s expertise in entrepreneurship and climate finance. This scholarship will help accelerate my long-term career goal to commercialise innovative technologies in the renewable energy sector.”

Ahmad Khattab

Ahmad Khattab obtained an MSc in General Structural Engineering from Imperial in 2014 and works as a Chartered Civil Engineer and Project Principal at WSP, leading major projects in the transport and infrastructure sector. He said: “This scholarship has further motivated me to achieve my goals within the engineering & construction industry and repay the faith placed in me by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Engineers in Business Fellowship.

Reflecting on starting his new degree at the Business School he said: “This MBA programme, delivered by an establishment centred around science, technology and engineering, will allow me to achieve a blend of my personal interests in engineering and consulting with business.”

Leila Guerra, Vice Dean (Education) at Imperial College Business School said:  “I’m delighted to congratulate Jayshan and Ahmad on this fantastic achievement and I look forward to welcoming them to the Business School in September. The Sainsbury Management Fellow scholarships reflect the joint vision that Imperial College Business School shares with Lord Sainsbury – to connect management, entrepreneurship and technology and drive business forward.

"I’m delighted that this partnership will allow exceptional engineers such as Jayshan and Ahmad to develop their management and leadership skills to increase their impact on business and society, something that is part of our DNA at the Business School.”

Building a community of engineers with business skills is the core remit of the Sainsbury Management Fellows scholarship scheme, which was set up by Lord Sainsbury of Turville over 30 years ago. 

The scholarship is open to engineers via the Royal Academy of Engineering and was recently extended to embrace technology graduates including computer sciences.  Each year 10 scholarships are awarded, and each successful applicant receives £50,000 towards their MBA study at one of the 14 business schools on the roster.