IAS Friends and Fellows Coffee Morning

On Tuesday 5th March we will be hosting an IAS Friends and Fellows Coffee Morning, where we will be joined by our third Residential Fellows of this academic year, Dr Benjamin Robinson, along with Open Programme Fellows Dr Jonny Hansen & Dr Yuzhou (Jodie) Sun.

Please feel free to book using the button below, to come along and join us for an informal in-person gathering at International House with coffee and cakes to meet our Fellows, all are welcome.

Dr Benjamin Robinson (Outsight International)

Ben has a passion for innovations which can create transformative pathways to a sustainable future for all. His interdisciplinary background as an academic, practitioner, and entrepreneur enabled him to develop strategic and technical skills that cover a range of energy technologies and methodologies.

Through his work alongside international development and humanitarian initiatives ranging from 20K to 2M USD he have cultivated a diverse range of practical skills as well as a deep appreciation of the people and cultural systems that influence project sustainability. Ultimately, Ben has devoted his working life to creating, managing, and coordinating energy systems and services that benefit others to accelerate climate solutions and create a more just world.

Currently, Ben’s main roles are as the Energy Team lead at social innovation consultancy, Outsight International, and as an independent Energy Expert working with the International Development and Humanitarian energy sector to create and deliver innovative ecosystems that embed the voices of the marginalised groups directly in the conceptualisation, implementation, and evaluation of energy programs.

During their IAS Residential Fellowship, Dr Robinson is collaborating with Professor Ed Brown from the School of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Dr Jonny Hansen (Scania CV AB)

Dr Jonny Hansen is a Swedish engineer and researcher currently affiliated with Scania CV AB, a prominent heavy-duty truck company, situated in Sodertalje, Sweden. Dr Hansen earned both his MSc- (Mechanical Engineering) and PhD-degree (Machine Elements) from Lulea University of Technology in Sweden.

Presently, he contributes as a tribology expert and Tech Lead within the Department of Electric Vehicle Development. Beyond his industrial commitments, he serves as a TLT Technical Editor for the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE), is an active member of the Swedish Tribology Association, and a former member of the AGMA helical gear rating committee. He is also engaged in multiple collaborative research projects with academia, where he acts both as supervisor and the leading researcher. Dr Hansen’s core research interests are centred around electric vehicle technology with special focus on electrically stressed rough surface elasto-hydrodynamic lubricated (EHL) contacts (EV tribology).

During their IAS Fellowship, Dr Hansen is collaborating with Dr Mahdi Mohammad-Pour from the School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering.

Dr Yuzhou (Jodie) Sun (Fudan University)

Dr Yuzhou (Jodie) Sun is Senior Lecturer in Modern African and Global History at the Department of History, Fudan University, China and Research Fellow of the International Studies Group, University of the Free State, South Africa. She holds an MSc in African Studies and a DPhil in History from the University of Oxford. Her research interests are modern African history, Cold War history and China-Africa relations.

Her first monograph (Kenya's and Zambia's Relations with China 1949-2019, James Currey, 2023) examines the history of post-colonial Kenya’s and Zambia’s relations with the People’s Republic of China from ideological, political, economic and social perspectives. She has published in Cold War History, International Journal of African Historical Studies, Journal of Southern African Studies, and Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies. 

She is an elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She is an Executive Board member of the Chinese in Africa/Africans in China Research Network and the founder of China-Africa Shanghai International Network (CASIN). As a Visiting Scholar at Stanford’s Center for African Studies in 2023-24, she will conduct research on ‘Third World Crossings’: Afro-Asian Networks, Decolonisation and the Cold War as well as deliver a course tentatively titled ‘Africa and China: Pasts and Presents’.

During their IAS Fellowship, Dr Sun is collaborating with Dr Thoralf Klein from the School of Social Sciences and Humanities.