Dr Alan Begg, Automotive Academy chief executive, has been made an Honorary Professor of the University of Birmingham's School of Engineering (Metallurgy and Materials).

The award is in recognition of a career in materials sciences and is also an endorsement to his life-long commitment to developing new technologies and processes.

Dr Begg has been involved in the School of Engineering as a member of the steering committee for the interdisciplinary research centre in high temperature materials. He has also been a member of the office of science and technology materials foresight panel since 1994.

Dr Begg said: "I have had a long association with the University of Birmingham and I am very proud to have been made an Honorary Professor. The School of Engineering develops some of the nation's finest graduates and I look forward to helping them maintain this standard in the coming years."