AIT Newsletter April 2011
AIT reaches out to Japan
NASA Attaché visits AIT
21 bankers grace the launch of Professional Master’s in Banking and Finance
Asian Aquaculture Network to offer joint programs with AIT
EPFL evinces interest in AIT
700 signatories participate in Women’s Day signature campaign
University of Borås impressed with AIT’s internationality
Prof. Yang Academic Collection adorns library
AIT excels in Thailand Research Fund ratings
Hokkaido University launches double degree program
PEOPLE
AIT student wins best paper award
BJU signs MoU, seeks exchange of doctoral students
Busitema University signs MoU
Myanmar Egress partners with AIT
AIT Mini Olympics
What’s happening
News You Can Use
Follow AIT at
Credits

AIT reaches out to Japan

AIT community participating in the "Donation for Japan" campaign.
The AIT community participating in the "Donation for Japan" campaign.

AIT has reached out to Japan in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and the tsunami of 11 March 2011. AIT’s Dr. Masahiko Nagai was appointed project manager for the disaster under the International Charter on ‘Space and Major Disasters’, which was activated by the Cabinet Office of Japan immediately after the disaster. Dr. Nagai is Deputy Director of AIT’s Geoinformatics Center.

AIT’s Student Union President Mr. Lawal Umar Kankia as well as the AIT International School led a fund collection drive. AIT’s faculty, staff, alumni and the entire
community are making major cash contributions. The institute has dedicated an account for “Donation for Japan.” The AIT Cultural Show being held on 1 April 2011, is dedicated to the “Donation for Japan” campaign.

NASA Attaché visits AIT

Mr. Justin Tilman
Mr. Justin Tilman.

AIT hosted a visit by a senior official representative of America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on 25 March 2011. Visiting at the invitation of the Geoinformatics Center at AIT, Mr. Justin Tilman, Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, and NASA’s representative in the Pacific Rim, delivered a lecture to students and faculty titled “NASA Programs and Cooperation in Asia.” Welcoming Mr. Tilman, Vice President for Academic Affairs Prof. Joydeep Dutta, and Vice President for Research Prof. Sudip Kumar Rakshit, emphasized how AIT and NASA could work together. Mr. Tilman explained that NASA is a federal agency under the direct leadership of the President of the United States. It currently maintains some 500 collaborations, twothirds of which are science-related.

He provided insight into its famed Human Space Program, offering operational specifics about the 30-year-old Shuttle Program, the International Space Station program and its associated international partnerships. While NASA can only fund U.S. enterprises and university, these in-turn can work with international partners, he said.

21 bankers grace the launch of Professional Master’s in Banking and Finance

Dr. Atiur Rahman addressing participants at AIT.
Dr. Atiur Rahman addressing participants at AIT.

Professional Master’s in Banking and Finance (PMBF), a program jointly offered by AIT and the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern (FNHW), Switzerland, was formally launched on 14 March 2011.

The first batch of 21 bankers participated in the inaugural function held at Milton E. Bender Jr. Auditorium at AIT. All participants are from Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of Bangladesh.

Delivering an address from Dhaka via a teleconference, Dr. Atiur Rahman, Governor, Bangladesh Bank, remarked that the program would help the young bankers emerge as future leaders. “AIT is a world class institute and this program would contribute towards our aim of ensuring that Bangladesh Bank becomes a world class bank,” Dr. Rahman said.

Asian Aquaculture Network to offer joint programs with AIT

Dr. Farshad Shishehchian
Dr. Farshad Shishehchian

Amidst the presence of the Ambassador of Cambodia and representative of the Embassy of Timor Leste, AIT signed a MoU with the Asian Aquaculture Network (AAN) to develop and offer an Aquaculture Extension Program.

Dr. Farshad Shishehchian, President, AAN, said  AIT and AAN will jointly engage in organizing training programs and certification. He described AIT as a very strong brand name in Asia.

The MoU signing ceremony event was witnessed by H.E. Ms. You Ay, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kingdom of Cambodia, and Mr. Erminio da Silva Pinto, First Secretary, Embassy of Timor-Leste.
Left to right : Mr. Erminio da Silva Pinto, H.E. Ms.
Left to right : Mr. Erminio da Silva Pinto, H.E. Ms. You Ay, and Prof.Said Irandoust

EPFL evinces interest in AIT

Mr. Marius Burgat
Mr. Marius Burgat

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Lausanne has shown keen interest in AIT, and will explore opportunities for partnership, particularly on faculty collaboration and student exchange.

On his maiden visit to AIT, Mr. Marius Burgat of International Affairs (Asia), EPFL, stated that EPFL will welcome doctoral students from AIT. He added that the International Affairs office at EPFL will seek to facilitate formal faculty partnerships with AIT. On a visit to learn about AIT, Mr. Burgat visited various facilities within the AIT campus on his
two-day visit on 24-25 March 2011.

Welcoming Mr. Burgat, Prof. Said Irandoust, President, AIT, remarked that internationality has remained a strength for AIT ever since it was established in 1959. Prof. Irandoust said the cooperation of EPFL with the Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology at AIT (CoEN) needs to be reinforced and extended to other fields of study and programs.

700 signatories participate in Women’s Day signature campaign

700 signatories participate in Women’s

Seven hundred signatories participated in the International Women’s Day signature campaign organized at AIT on 8 March 2011. Participants included students, faculty members, members of AIT administration, as well as young children from the AIT International School. All signatories were honored with a purple badge.

Despite the rain and intermittent weather, participants reached the venue at Korea House to salute the glory of women. This being the centenary year of the International Women’s Day celebrations, AIT organized a host of activities, the signature campaign being one of them. An artwork competition was also organized by the Gender and Culture Committee of the AIT Student Union, along with the Gender and Development Studies (GDS) field of study. The theme of the competition was “Equal access to education, training, and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women.”

University of Borås impressed with AIT’s internationality

Dr. Rof Appekvist
Dr. Rof Appekvist

A delegation from the University of Borås, Sweden was impressed with the internationality at AIT, and sought enhanced partnerships to help their students acquire a global experience. A seven member-strong delegation of the University of Borås expressed their desire to use the AIT platform for providing their students with an international edge.

Dr. Rof Appekvist, Head of School of Business and IT, University of Borås, while introducing his school, said the trend in Sweden is towards tertiary education and vocational training, prompting universities to offer new types of programs. Dr. Hans Björk, Head of School of Engineering, University of Borås, said the partnership with AIT has already resulted in exchange of students and staff. The delegation from University of Borås, which visited AIT on 1 March 2011, also included Dr. Mikael Löfström, Program Director, Business School; Dr. Roy Andersson and Dr. Jonas Stray of School of Engineering; Ms. Grace Zhe Gu, International Secretary and Ms. Håkan Alm, a Doctoral candidate at the University of Borås and AIT.

Prof. Yang Academic Collection adorns library

Mrs. Wen-Jei Yang
Mrs. Wen-Jei Yang

The final installment of the academic collection of late Prof. W.J.Yang, former Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan, was handed over to AIT by his widow, Mrs. Wen-Jei Yang, at a simple ceremony at the AIT library on 7 March 2011. Prof. Yang was the guest speaker at AIT’s ninety-fourth graduation ceremony in 2002. The Yang Collection is housed on the second floor of the AIT library building. Welcoming the guests, Ms. Pranee Kiriyanant, Coordinator, AIT library, said the Yang Collection now has 736 books and 12 journal titles. Mrs. Yang and her daughter, Ms. Ling Hsiang Yang, were welcomed by Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, Vice President for Resource Development.

AIT excels in Thailand Research Fund ratings

Five of the 12 participating clusters from AIT have received a top ranking of ‘5’ in the research output rating of the Thailand Research Fund (TRF). Five clusters received
a top rating of ‘5’, six clusters received a rating of ‘4’, while one received a rating of ‘3’.

The five clusters that received the rating of ‘5’ include Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Information and Communication Technology, Environment Engineering and Management, and Regional and Rural Development Planning (RRDP). RRDP topped among the six participating institutes of Thailand.

Following AIT’s performance, TRF has also agreed to award five Golden Jubilee Royal Scholarships for doctoral studies at AIT for the five clusters that received the top rating of ‘5’.

Hokkaido University launches double degree program

Prof. Takashi Nakatsuji (left) and Dr. Nitin V.
Prof. Takashi Nakatsuji (left) and Dr. Nitin V. Afzulpurkar

AIT and Hokkaido University (HU) have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) launching a double degree program. The double degree program will be initiated between the Transportation Engineering field of study at AIT and the Research Group of Policy for Engineering and Environment of Engineering at HU.

PEOPLE

Nano student’s article attracts media attention
Mr. Sunandan Baruah
Mr. Sunandan Baruah

 A review article coauthored by an AIT doctoral student, Mr. Sunandan Baruah, and AIT’s Vice President for Academic Affairs, Prof Joydeep Dutta, has been featured in leading technology news portals including Research SEA and TMCNet, apart from popular news portals like Yahoo News and PRWeb.

Based on a review article published in the March 2011 issue of the journal ‘Science and Technology of Advanced Materials’ published by Institute of Physics (UK), the
article entitled “Zinc stannate nanostructures: hydrothermal synthesis” has formed the basis of various news items.

AIT student wins best paper award

Ms. Warisa Wisittipanich
Ms. Warisa Wisittipanich

A doctoral student of Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Ms. Warisa Wisittipanich, has bagged the best student paper award at the “Seventh International Conference on
Intelligent Manufacturing and Logistics Systems”, which was held at Yuan-Ze University, Zhong-Li in Chinese Taipei recently.

The paper titled “A Pareto-based Participle Swan Optimization for Multi-objective Job Shop Scheduling Problems”, which was co-authored with her advisor, Prof. Voratas
Kachitvichyanukul of AIT’s School of Engineering and Technology (SET), was presented at the conference which concluded on 1 March 2011.

BJU signs MoU, seeks exchange of doctoral students

Prof. Ning Bin (left), and Prof. Said Irandoust.
Prof. Ning Bin (left), and Prof. Said Irandoust.

Beijing Jiaotong University (BJU) has signed a MoU with AIT, seeking to establish a strong collaboration in academic and research programs. BJU and AIT have decided to collaborate in academics, research, training, and faculty development, apart from jointly organizing student activities.

The MoU was signed by Prof. Ning Bin, President of BJU, and Prof. Said Irandoust, President, AIT on 23 March 2011. AIT and BJU also plan to launch a two stage Master’s program in high speed railways.

Prof. Bin remarked that AIT is very active in the field of international cooperation, and BJU is happy to collaborate with such an institute. “We are looking forward to an exchange of doctoral students, and we hope to send Ph.D. students to AIT soon,” Prof. Bin remarked. He added that it was because of AIT’s strong international
brand, that three deans and one vice dean were part of the BJU delegation which was visiting AIT.

Busitema University signs MoU

Prof. Mary Jossy Nakandha Okwakwol (left), and
Prof. Mary Jossy Nakandha Okwakwol (left), and Prof. Said Irandoust.

AIT and Busitema University (BU), Uganda signed a MoU on 17 March 2011, to enable cooperation between the two institutes. The MoU was signed by Prof. Mary Jossy Nakandha Okwakwol, Vice Chancellor, BU, and Prof. Said Irandoust, President, AIT. BU is the only public university in Eastern Uganda. The University has seven campuses and is keen to develop a Science and Technology Park. BU is also strengthening partnerships with the private sector, and seeks academic and research partnerships with AIT. Apart from Prof. Okwakwol, the BU delegation comprised of Prof. Richard Wilfred Odogola, Head, Agricultural Mechanization and Irrigation Engineering Department; Dr. Samuel Baker Kucel, Dean, Faculty of Engineering; Mr. Johnnie Stephen Wilson Wandera Wafula, Head, Ginning and Textile Engineering Department; and Mr. Elisha Obella, Academic Registrar.

Myanmar Egress partners with AIT

Dr. Weerakorn Ongsakul (left), and Dr. Nay
Dr. Weerakorn Ongsakul (left), and Dr. Nay Win Maung.

Myanmar Egress, a nonprofit organization founded by Myanmar scholars and social workers, signed a MoU with AIT, for developing academic, social, institutional and scientific activities aimed at achieving internationalization of higher education. The MoU was signed by Prof. Said Irandoust, President, AIT, and Dr. Nay Win Maung, Secretary General, Myanmar Egress. AIT will also initiate a Professional Master’s in Public Policy (MPP) program for Myanmar. Myanmar Egress will further collaborate with
the Wetland Alliance Program and the CSR Asia Center at AIT. The delegation was welcomed in AIT by Dr.Weerakorn Ongsakul, Dean, School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD).

AIT Mini Olympics

The team from Portugal puts up a display during the “Mini Olympics.”
The team from Portugal puts up a display during the “Mini Olympics.”

A spirited Sweden defeated Portugal, while Nepal beat Bangladesh in the tug-of-war competition organized by the Student Union of AIT to mark the formal beginning of the fortnight-long “Mini Olympics” on 14 March 2011. The encounter between Nepal and Bangladesh was, however, fierce, as both teams seemed equally matched. Nepal
won, and this was followed by the tug-of-war for girls which was won again by Nepal who beat Indonesia.

According to Mr. Varun Kumra, Head, Sports Committee, AIT Student Union, the Mini Olympics held from 14-31 March 2011 witnessed competitions in football, badminton, basketball, chairball, cricket, tug-of-war, snooker, table tennis, athletics, swimming, petanque, volleyball, squash and chess.

What’s happening

AIT OPEN HOUSE : 1  April / 22 April / 29 April / 11 May | http://www.ait.ac.th/news-and-events/2011/events/ait-open-house/
AIT CULTURAL SHOW : 1  April

News You Can Use

Teaching tsunami British Red Cross has used a ‘Channel IV’ television news report to teach people about tsunami and its aftereffects. The Red Cross suggests that students be prepared to watch the news report, presented by Alex Thomson from the town of Minamisanriku, on Japan’s north eastern coast. It also suggests reading the transcript of the news report and organizing a discussion on tsunami and earthquake preparedness.

Read more at this link: http://www.redcross.org.uk/What-we-do/Teaching-resources/Lesson-plans/Japan-tsunami

You can watch the video at this link http://goo.gl/bJyrB

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Credits

Editor: Bajinder Pal Singh  bajinder@ait.asia
Photos: Paitoon Tinnapong
Feedback: Contact Media and Communications Unit at AIT mcu@ait.asia