Congratulations to everyone who graduated this summer and welcome to the alumni community! You have now completed your time here at Birmingham but it is not goodbye. From the moment you began your studies here you became part of the EPS Community of over 60,000 alumni, students and staff and as a graduate, you are also now part of an ever-growing network of 179,000 former University of Birmingham students from more than 190 countries.

Graduations this year fell at the beginning of the summer heat wave and graduands struggled through the unusually high temperatures to shake hands with Sir Dominic Cadbury and receive their degree certifications. Thankfully there was plenty of wine, cold drinks and food on hand in the School of Chemical Engineering to mark the occasion and celebrate the success of our graduates.

We had the pleasure of meeting some of you at our Gradstagram booth. This new photo booth provided the opportunity to take more informal shots as souvenirs of your day. The photos can be seen on the University of Birmingham Alumni Facebook page or watch the YouTube clip.

During this year’s graduation ceremony we also saw Professor Jinghai Li, Vice-President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, become an Honorary Doctor of Engineering for the University. Professor Li graduated from the Harbin Institute of Technology in 1982 and obtained his PhD from the CAS Institute of Process Engineering (IPE) in Beijing in 1987. Following his post-doctoral research he returned to China in 1990 and served as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor, Vice Director and Director of IPE in succession. In February 2004, he was appointed Vice President of CAS.

So as you embark on this next phase in your life, don’t forget to stay in touch, keep connected and, when the time is right, get back involved with the University and your School.