An alumni and student event will be held in Kowloon, Hong Kong, on Saturday, August 28, to mark Swansea University’s 90th Anniversary.
Professor Alan Speight, the University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Student Experience and Academic Quality Enhancement, will lead the proceedings and welcome more than 100 alumni, current students, new students, and their families, to a reception at the city’s Mira Hotel.
The event, which is jointly organised by the University’s International Office, Alumni Office, the University’s Hong Kong Representative, and the Hong Kong Student Union, will include a pre-departure briefing for new students starting their courses at Swansea this September.
Guests will also be updated on the University’s recent success and new developments including the latest increase in the University’s core research funding by 40%, as a direct result of the independent Research and Assessment Exercise 2008, and details of world-leading research projects, such as the Bloodhound SSC Supersonic car, which aims to take the Land Speed Record to an incredible one thousand miles an hour.
The winner of a recent competition inviting students from Hong Kong who will be joining the University in September to make a video about why they chose to study at Swansea University will also screen their film during the evening.
Professor Speight said: “This event is a wonderful way to celebrate this milestone in the University’s history with our alumni and students in Hong Kong, and to inform them of the University’s recent achievements and new developments.
”It will provide an excellent opportunity for our alumni to share their experiences and memories with recent graduates and new students, and to reminisce on their time spent studying and living in Swansea.
“Current students will also be able to provide new students with a real flavour of life in Swansea and Wales, which will hopefully help them to prepare for this exciting new chapter in their lives.”
Sally Thurlow, the University’s Alumni Officer added: “We currently have more than 500 graduates, from a range of academic subjects, residing in Hong Kong who are registered with the Alumni Association, many of whom have gone on to be extremely successful in their chosen profession.”
One such alumnus attending the reception is Professor Yau Kai Cheung OBE, who graduated from Swansea in 1964 with a PhD Education in Engineering, and is an internationally renowned researcher and scholar.
Professor Cheung is recognised for his research activities in engineering mechanics and for his pioneering contributions to the methods of finite elements and finite strips for solving engineering problems.
He has had a distinguished career at the University of Hong Kong, where he was formerly Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Head of the Civil Engineering Department, and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering.
Emma Frearson Emmanuel, Head of the University’s International Office, said: “It will be a great honour to meet some of our alumni and students from Hong Kong, as well as to greet our new students before they come to Swansea.
“The University has a long history of welcoming students from this area to study Engineering, Science and Medicine, and we now have a growing reputation for our Business, Law, and Arts and Humanities Programmes, attracting an increasing number of students each year.”
Alumni, current students or new students in Hong Kong, who would like further information or to attend the event, should contact Barry Sullivan, East Asian International Development Manager, by email: [email protected].
