The Office of International Programs has recently had the pleasure of hosting visitors from Vietnam's Can Tho University, Senegal's Regional Center of Excellence on Dry Cereals and Associated Crops (CERAAS), and New Zealand's Ag First. 

Can Tho University is a public research university in Can Tho, Vietnam with a strong focus on agricultural research across its 9 colleges. Can Tho has roughly 45,000 students across all levels. This visit, also coordinated by Juan Loor, Professor in Animal Sciences and Helen Nguyen, Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering, focused on ongoing collaborations with the Institute of Genomic Biology and Loor, while learning more about the work of Prairie Research Institute, and ACES faculty's international development and microbiology/fermentation work. The delegation included Rector Ha Thanh Toan; Le Van Lam, Director of International Relations Department; and Associate Prof. Huynh Xuan Phong, Head of Department of Microbiology Technology. 

Aliou Faye, director of CERRAS and the country coordinator for Senegal for the Kansas State Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Sustainable Intensification visited campus as a research partner for the ACES-based Appropriate Scale Mechanization Consortium (ASMC) project.

Ag First is an agricultural, horticultural, and engineering consulting firm based in New Zealand. CEO James Allen and Kerry Allen, agribusiness project curriculum director, visited the University of Illinois to learn about U.S. agricultural frameworks, extension, and agricultural education.