Our staff
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Dr Mersha Aftab
MA Design Management Course Director
Dr. Mersha Aftab is a senior lecturer in Design Management and the course director for postgraduate design management courses at Birmingham City University. Before joining the Faculty of Architecture, Design, and Media in September 2019, she was a Senior Lecturer in Innovation at the Faculty of Arts, Design and Social Sciences,...
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Dr Matthew Armitt
Head of Level 6 Architecture
Matthew’s research is on the period of the 1920s and 1930s on Soviet Architecture, Theory, and Architectural Teaching. Through his past research, Matthew has explored the revolutionary architectural teaching methods of the Russian Architecture School VKhUTEMAS (Higher Artistic and Technical Studios) through a discipline of...
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Kristine Biteniece
Technician for Hard Materials
For Kristine, since she can remember she has always enjoyed taking things apart and putting them back together. Her current passion is upcycling any lighting objects that she can find, while being a nature lover explains the 44 plants in her flat. Kristine is not a fan of public transport so cycles as much as possible, and if...
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Dr Hocine Bougdah
Director of Technical Studies and Sustainability
Dr Hocine Bougdah has an academic and industrial career that extends over 31 years. He recently joined the Birmingham School of Architecture and Design as a Director for Technical Studies and Sustainability. Prior to this, he was a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Architecture and Cities at the University of Westminster,...
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Josephine Bridges
Lecturer and Level 4 Lead
Josephine has been teaching at Birmingham City University (BCU) for almost four years now, mostly as Level 6 lead during which time she has been GradShow Coordinator, EDI Champion and Co:Lab tutor. She has recently taken on a new role as Level 4 lead, drawing on her skills from practice and her own university experience to...
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Dr Jemma Browne
Deputy Head of School
Jemma is the Deputy Head of School, C ourse Director BA (Hons) Design for Future Living and Associate Professor Teaching and Learning. She teaches history and theory of Architecture and Design and coordinates the overall delivery and development of this strand of all the courses in the School, as well as contributing to...
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Katriona Byrne
Course Director MA Conservation of the Historic Environment
Katriona's BA in History of Art led her to work on the Pevsner Architectural Guide for Dublin and on the National Inventory of Ireland. The Historic Heart of Dublin European project led to a postgraduate Diploma in Architectural Inventorying and Recording. Katriona then worked for about 10 years as a local authority...
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Oliver Chapman
Lecturer in Architecture
Oliver Chapman qualified as an architect through Birmingham School of Architecture and Design having studied at the University of Liverpool and Queen’s University Belfast. He currently Lectures in History of Architecture and Design, and is a Design Studio Tutor at Birmingham School of Architecture & Design with a keen interest...
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Natalie Cole
BA Product and Furniture Design lecturer
Natalie is a Lecturer on the BA (hons) Product and Furniture Design programme. She currently teaches Level 4 students, as well as being the Link Tutor for Birmingham City University International College. Prior to joining the University, Natalie managed and curated the craft programme for Wolverhampton Arts and...
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Alessandro Columbano
Senior Lecturer, Enterprise Coordinator, Course Director MArch Architecture (RIBA Part 2)
Alessandro is a Senior Lecturer at the Birmingham School of Architecture and Design. He also co-established and leads the Collaborative Laboratory (Co.LAB) a teaching intiative and organisation within the school that integrates teaching with practice through live projects, staff research/design and external consultancy. ...