International Special Envoys
To support the ambitions of the University’s International Engagement and Impact Core Plan, which forms a key part of the University’s Strategy ‘Creating Better Futures. Together’, 11 International Special Envoys have been appointed.
Envoys will play a lead role in the delivery of University approaches related to student recruitment, academic partnerships, philanthropic development, EDI opportunities and sport-related partnerships.
Two Envoys have been allocated to the following six key regions, each of which has a supporting Regional Strategy Group:
- South Asia (India)
- Sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa)
- North America (USA and Canada)
- South-East Asia (Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia)
- East Asia (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan)
- Middle East/ North Africa (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and Turkey)
The Envoys, who are appointed on a two-year basis, report to the Director Global Engagement and will work closely with the Vice-Chancellor and the Global Engagement team to advance the University’s international strategies by building relationships with key stakeholders in their assigned region based on their expertise and experience.
South Asia (India)
![Bala Vaidhyanathan](/media/media/international/images/envoys/sm-_0003_Bala-Vaidhyanathan.jpg)
Professor of Advanced Materials and Processing, Chair of School Industrial Placement (DIS) Committee
![Kirti Ruikar](/media/media/international/images/envoys/sm-_0000_Kirti-Ruikar.jpg)
Senior Lecturer, AEDM Programme Director
Regional Strategy Group (South Asia) Secretariat: Will Burns
Middle East & North Africa (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, and Turkey)
![Ali Bilgic](/media/media/international/images/envoys/sm-_0004_ali-bilgic-staff.jpg)
Reader in International Relations and Security
![Tarek Hassan](/media/media/international/images/envoys/sm-_0006_Tarek-Hassan.jpg)
Professor of Construction Informatics
Regional Strategy Group (Middle East and North Africa) Secretariat: Amr Fahhad
Sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa)
![Oluwasola Afolabi](/media/media/international/images/envoys/sm-_0007_Oluwasola-Afolabi.jpg)
RAEng Engineering for Development Research Fellow, Senior Lecturer in Water and Environmental Engineering
![Hibbah Osei-Kwasi](/media/media/international/images/envoys/sm-_0001_hibbah-osei-kwasi.jpg)
Lecturer in Nutrition
Regional Strategy Group (Sub-Saharan Africa) Secretariat: Katy Friend
North America (USA and Canada)
![Kurt Barth](/media/media/international/images/envoys/sm-_0009_kurt-barth.jpg)
Professor in Photovoltaics
Regional Strategy Group (North America) Secretariat: Charlotte Davison
South-East Asia (Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, and Indonesia)
![Mey Goh](/media/media/international/images/envoys/sm-_0008_mey-goh.jpg)
Reader in Transdisciplinary Digital Manufacturing
![Eef Hogervorst](/media/media/international/images/envoys/sm-_0002_eef-hogervorst.jpg)
Professor of Psychology
Regional Strategy Group (South-East Asia) Secretariat: Katy Friend
East Asia (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan)
![Ksenia Chmutina](/media/media/international/images/envoys/sm-_0010_Ksenia-Chmutin.jpg)
Professor of Disaster Studies
![Wen-Feng Lin](/media/media/international/images/envoys/sm-_0005_Wen-Feng-Lin.jpg)
Professor of Chemical Engineering
Regional Strategy Group (East Asia) Secretariat: Lu Bai