Kevin Fitzpatrick, Nissan’s Vice President for UK Manufacturing Operations was honoured with a Doctorate of Technology at the summer graduation ceremonies.
As one of the original 22 supervisors hired to launch production at Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd. in Sunderland, Kevin's Nissan career has seen him rise through the company in line with the plant's growth in scale and importance. Kevin is now responsible for everything production-related to Nissan Sunderland Plant, the company's biggest European factory, supporting 40,000 UK automotive jobs.
On a day-to-day basis his job is delivering the production volume of vehicles at the required quality levels and at the required cost. As such Kevin coordinates the activities of teams including purchasing, design and logistics, as well as his own core responsibilities, to ensure that every function is able to meet their cost commitments on the cars built at Sunderland.
He said: "I think if you look at all the major cities in the North East - Durham, Newcastle, Sunderland - the focal point of the city centre has now moved towards the university and the students. The city centre, and the atmosphere in the city centre, has been transformed by the students that are there. I think we have just got to keep supporting the universities to make sure they are successful because they are vital to the region."