June 21, 2017, by The Ingenuity Lab

Sainsbury Management Fellows President Becomes an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours

Engineers in Business Fellowship (EIBF), which awards the Sainsbury Management Fellows MBA scholarships, announced on 17 June that its president, David Falzani, has been appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for 2017.

David Falzani is a beneficiary of the Sainsbury Management Fellows (SMF) MBA scholarship which supports young engineers in gaining business skills from top international business schools so that they can use their engineering and business skills to lead blue chip companies and create innovative businesses. Falzani heads a network of SMFs who, for example, have founded 275 thriving companies, and 153 SMFs have founded businesses valued at £4.6 billion and created 18,000 jobs.

As CEO of Polaris London, Falzani manages a consultancy that steers young businesses through key growth phases. A serial entrepreneur, he founded start-up businesses in the UK, Italy and USA, raising over £5 million from venture capitalists and achieving trade sales. Falzani has led Sainsbury Management Fellows for seven years and during his presidency has worked in close collaboration with the Royal Academy of Engineering to advance the education and training of engineers, inspiring them to develop their skills in innovation, management and governance so that they too can play a part in expanding the UK economy.

Falzani’s commitment to encouraging engineers to learn business skills led to his appointment as honorary professor at the University of Nottingham’s Business School where he has taught entrepreneurship for over five years. This association led to the creation of the SMF Engineers in Business competition which gives undergraduates hands-on experience of innovation and business practice. The competition challenges engineering students to create a novel product concept that meets a need in society and that demonstrates the use of engineering skills in the creative process. The competition is being extended to three more universities in 2017, and six more in 2018. Falzani’s leadership has increased the power and effectiveness of the Sainsbury Management Fellows network. Today more than 260 SMFs mentor young engineers, helping them with career or entrepreneurial aspirations. He also helped SMF become a registered charity – Engineers in Business Fellowship – and the fundraising committee has already raised over £2 million to finance future MBA scholarships.

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