Cyflwyno Cymrodoriaeth Anrhydeddus i Bonamy Grimes MBE, gwe-fentergarwr Skyscanner

Ganghellor Prifysgol Aberystwyth, yr Gwir Anrhydeddus Arglwydd Thomas o Gwmgiedd gyda Bonamy Grimes MBE, Cymrodoriaeth er Anrhydedd Prifysgol Aberystwyth

Cyflwynwyd Cymrodoriaeth er Anrhydedd Prifysgol Aberystwyth i’r gwe-fentergarwr, Bonamy Grimes MBE, cyd-sylfaenydd gwefan cymharu prisiau Skyscanner.

Magwyd Bonamy yng Ngheredigion ac aeth i Ysgol Gyfun Aberaeron, lle’r oedd ymhlith y disgyblion cyntaf i astudio Cyfrifiadureg i’w gyrsiau lefel O a Lefel A yn yr 1980au.

Aeth yn ei flaen i fod yn un o sefydlwyr gwefan cymharu prisiau hedfan o'r enw Skyscanner, yn gweithio o'i atig yn Llundain ar ddechrau 2002.

Ers hynny mae'r cwmni wedi tyfu i fod y cwmni chwilio teithio mwyaf yn y byd, a chanddo fwy na 700 o staff a swyddfeydd bedwar ban byd.

Cafodd MBE am wasanaethau i dechnoleg a theithio yn rhestr anrhydeddau pen-blwydd y Frenhines yn 2016.

Ym mis Tachwedd 2016 gwerthwyd Skyscanner i’r asiant deithio ar-lein Ctrip am £1.4 biliwn.

Ar ôl ildio awenau gwaith rheoli dydd-i-ddydd y cwmni, mae Bonamy erbyn hyn yn mentora sawl busnes newydd ym Mhrydain ac mae'n ymwneud â nifer o brosiectau elusennol. 

Cyflwynwyd Bonamy Grimes MBE gan Dr Bernie Tiddeman, Pennaeth Adran Cyfrifiadureg Prifysgol Aberystwyth, ddydd Iau 19 Gorffennaf 2018. Mae’r cyflwyniad i’w weld isod, yn iaith y traddodi.

Cyflwyniad i Bonamy Grimes MBE gan Dr Bernie Tiddeman:

Canghellor, Is-Ganghellor, darpar raddedigion, gyfeillion.  Pleser o’r mwyaf yw cyflwyno Bonamy Grimes yn Gymrawd Prifysgol Aberystwyth.

Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, prospective graduates and supporters.  It is an honour and a privilege to present Bonamy Grimes as a Fellow of Aberystwyth University.

Bonamy Grimes grew up in rural Ceredigion, just a few miles south of Aberystwyth, in what sounds like an idyllic childhood, dominated by “fields, woods and running around”.  From those humble beginnings he went on to co-found SkyScanner, one of the great British web startup success stories which in November 2016 was sold to Ctrip, the largest travel firm in China, for $1.75 billion (£1.4 billion).

He attended Aberaeron Comprehensive School, which was part of something called the Technical and Vocational Educational Initiative that allowed him to do the first ever computer science O-level.  This kicked off his interest in technology and computer science, which he went on to study at A-level and then for a degree at Manchester University.  It was at Manchester that he met fellow computer scientist Gareth Williams who would later become SkyScanner’s second co-founder.  The two bonded over shared interests in music, skiing and technology.

It was almost 10 years later that they met the company’s third co-founder Barry Smith, while working as an IT contractor for Marks & Spencer in the early 2000s.  The three set up their own consultancy and Skyscanner began to take shape when Williams was awarded a contract by Reuters that he wasn’t too keen on accepting.  He took on the work on the understanding that he would have two weeks on and two weeks off.  He used those weeks off to go skiing over the winter, and started to develop software to work out the best choice of flights.  Recognising the business potential, the three started to develop William’s initial implementation (created in a spreadsheet), into a robust flight search system.

As a self-funded enterprise, initially the firm grew slowly, making some mistakes, but learning from them and refining the product and the business idea. As Bonamy has said more recently ‘The one piece of advice I’d have is that it’s not about the idea – it’s about the execution.’

The team took 5 years to develop the software to the stage where they felt ready to approach funders to allow them to scale up the system.  They secured £2.5m from venture capital firm Scottish Equity Partners in 2007 and used it to translate the site into 29 different languages and expand the range of destinations it covered.  Since then the company has grown to be the largest travel search company in the world, with over 700 employees and offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Barcelona, Singapore, Miami and Beijing. 

Having stepped down from the day to day involvement in the business, Bonamy has explored a number of projects involving his passions of cycling and motor racing as well as helping to mentor a number of start-up companies in the UK.

Bonamy is also involved in a number of charities, working on the technical advisory board of The Alzheimers Society, and is also a regular rider on the Ride25 cycle trip to Sydney in Australia, raising funds for 1moreChild, an orphanage in Uganda.

Canghellor, Is-Ganghellor mae’n bleser gen i gyflwyno Bonamy Grimes i chi yn Gymrawd. 

Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor it is my absolute pleasure to present Bonamy Grimes to you as a Fellow of Aberystwyth University.

Anrhydeddau Prifysgol Aberystwyth 2018

Bydd Prifysgol Aberystwyth yn anrhydeddu naw o bobl yn ystod seremonïau graddio 2018, a gynhelir yng Nghanolfan Gelfyddydau’r Brifysgol rhwng dydd Mawrth 17 Gorffennaf a dydd Gwener 20 Gorffennaf.

Cyflwynir chwe Chymrawd er Anrhydedd i unigolion a chanddynt gysylltiad ag Aberystwyth neu â Chymru ar hyn o bryd neu yn y gorffennol, ac sydd wedi gwneud cyfraniad eithriadol i’w dewis feysydd.

Cyflwynir un radd Doethuriaeth Er Anrhydedd hefyd; mae’r rhain yn cydnabod unigolion sydd wedi bod yn eithriadol o lwyddiannus yn eu maes, neu sydd â record hir o ymchwil a chyhoeddi nodedig.

Cyflwynir dwy radd Baglor er Anrhydedd. Cyflwynir y rhain i unigolion sy’n aelodau o staff Prifysgol Aberystwyth heb radd lefel-mynediad, i gydnabod eu gwasanaeth hir, eu cyfraniad a’u hymrwymiad i’r Sefydliad; ac i aelodau o’r gymuned leol sydd wedi gwneud cyfraniad sylweddol i Aberystwyth a’r cyffiniau.

Cymrodoriaethau er Anrhydedd:

Cyflwynir Cymrodoriaethau er Anrhydedd i:

• Yr Athro Ann Sumner – hanesydd celf, curadur arddangosfeydd, a chyfarwyddwraig amgueddfa
• Bonamy Grimes MBE – gwe-entrepreneur a chyd-sylfaenydd y wefan cymharu prisiau teithiau awyren, Skyscanner
• Euryn Ogwen Williams – darlledydd profiadol a ffigwr arloesol yn y cyfryngau yng Nghymru
• John Dawes OBE – cyn-chwaraewr a chyn-hyfforddwr rygbi rhyngwladol
• Yr Athro Menna Elfyn – bardd a dramodydd arobryn
• Ei Anrhydedd y Barnwr Milwyn Jarman QC – barnwr blaenllaw.

Urddwyd yr awdur a’r ysgolhaig, yr Athro Meic Stephens yn Gymrawd er Anrhydedd Prifysgol Aberystwyth mewn seremoni arbennig yng Nghaerdydd ddydd Iau 3 Mai 2018. Bu farw yr Athro Stephens ar ddydd Iau 3 Gorffennaf.

Gradd Doethur er Anrhydedd:

Cyflwynir gradd Doethur er Anrhydedd i’r entrepreneur technoleg a dylunydd meddalwedd, John Thompson.

Graddau Baglor er Anrhydedd:

Cyflwynir gradd Baglor yn y Gwyddorau er Anrhydedd i gyn Reolwr Gorsaf Dân Aberystwyth, Eric Harries, a drefnodd ac arwain 50 o deithiau dyngarol i Ddwyrain Ewrop i gynorthwyo rhai diniwed a ddioddefai oherwydd rhyfel.

Cyflwynir Gradd Baglor yn y Celfyddydau er Anrhydedd i Sue Jones-Davies, actor a chantores, cynghorydd tref, a chyn Faer Aberystwyth.

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