AIT launches a modern redesigned website

Ambassador of Finland seeks to revitalize ties with AIT

AIT is now registered as an Official Technology and Innovation Research Organization

AIT student wins 500,000 THB Swiss Innovation Challenge

New Students Union team takes over

AIT Cultural Show

Seminars and Conferences

Alumnus appointed CEO

AIT faculty member publishes book on Food Processing

No Smoking Policy in AIT

AIT4Mexico

Social Media

Coming Up

Credits

AIT launches a modern redesigned website

In a first major upgrade since 2007, AIT has launched a new redesigned website. The website is slick, fast, modern and responsive, and it automatically reformats itself to mobiles,

tablets or computers. “The website needed an overhaul, and this was one of my targets during my presidency,” Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai said. Apart from deploying stronger security protocols, it also provides an enhanced user experience and effective audience targeting.

The new website is theme-based and tells a visual narrative story. While the top menus are focussed on students and potential applicants, the subsequent menus are focussed

on news, ways to ‘Discover’ AIT, and encourages visitors to ‘Engage’ with AIT.. The website is W3C compliant, has a modern card-based design, uses larger typography, and it is aesthetically pleasing. AIT branding and social media are integrated in the website.

Ambassador of Finland seeks to revitalize ties with AIT

Ambassador Satu Suikkari-Kleven with Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai.

Susanna Eltvik, Ambassador Satu Suikkari-Kleven, and Katarina Tapio.

Paying her maiden visit to AIT, Ambassador of Finland to Thailand, H.E. Mrs. Satu Suikkari-Kleven sought to revitalize the relationship between the two, and stated that AIT’s work and Finland’s priorities sync with each other.

“We had an excellent tradition of cooperation between Finland and AIT, and we are now looking at innovative ideas for renewed cooperation,” she remarked during her visit to AIT on 12 October 2017. Expressing her happiness that AIT had signed three agreements with Finnish entities in 2016, the Ambassador added that the Embassy could facilitate “matchmaking” between AIT and organizations in Finland.

“The Embassy of Finland concentrates on three areas — providing support to citizens and consular services, reporting on developments, and promoting Finnish

business, knowledge, and expertise,” the Ambassador said. The ambassador was accompanied by Ms. Katarina Tapio, First Secretary and Deputy Head of Mission;

and Mrs. Susanna Eltvik, Education Advisor. AIT President Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai welcomed the Finnish delegation and briefed them about AIT’s history,

mission and vision.

AIT is now registered as an Official Technology and Innovation Research Organization

AIT is now registered as an “Official Technology and Innovation Research Organization” by the Department of Revenue of the Royal Thai Government. The inclusion of AIT in

the roster implies that a private enterprise that engages AIT for research will be eligible for a 300 percent tax deduction in Thailand. The announcement by the Department of

Revenue grants this privilege for a five-year period from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2019.

The move will be also be beneficial to AIT in its engagement with the corporate sector in Thailand, who can now avail of AIT research expertise, President Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai said. President Worsak also thanked the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) for supporting AIT in the process.

AIT student wins 500,000 THB Swiss Innovation Challenge

Punchaya Raksasakul with Dr. Vatcharaporn Esichaikul.

Punchaya Raksasakul at the Swiss Innovation Challenge award ceremony.

AIT student Punchaya Raksasakul has bagged the first prize of 500,000 THB in the inaugural edition of the Swiss Innovation Challenge Thailand 2017 organized in Bangkok. She also presented her innovation in Switzerland at an event organized in Basel from 26-30 October 2017.

Punchaya’s application is based on her research conducted as a Master’s student in Computer Science and Information Management (CSIM) under the supervision of her faculty advisor Dr. Vatcharaporn Esichaikul. Her mobile application helps in identification of colors for visually impaired people, and integrates haptic and auditory sensories.

Her proposal was among the 60 entries that had applied for the nine-month program, and they went through three rounds to reach the finals where nine teams competed for the grand prize. Her application uses a mobile to identify colors, and then converts them into different types of vibrations, with each vibration corresponding to a different color. She is now developing three mobile-based games to help the visually impaired learn about colors. These games include color matching, color mixing, and a shopping game where bank notes can be identified by decoding their distinct colors.

New Students Union team takes over

AITSU at the Knowledge Garden of the AIT Library.

The new AIT Students’ Union (AITSU) team has now assumed charge. Led by President Sudheer Yadav of India, the team includes Ahmad Rashid Khoshbeen (Afghanistan), Zabihullah Ahmadi (Afghanistan), Ashok Lamichhane (Nepal), Madusha Piumal Gallage (Sri Lanka), Mohamed Haikal Jameel (Maldives), Shreya Jayakumar (India), Rafid Mahmud Khan (Bangladesh), Shehzad Ilyas (Pakistan), Sharang Dev Sharma (India), Kyu Thin Cho (Myanmar), Prateek Chaturvedi (India), Shubham Gupta (India), Kavya

Samanvitha Ravulapati (India), Sin Sit Soe (Myanmar), Swe Mon Aung (Myanmar), Nguyen Nhat Ha Chi (Vietnam), Bijay Panthi (Nepal), Kommula Preetham Reddy (India) and Worawit Jitsukka (Thailand).

AIT Cultural Show

Photos Courtesy: AIT Students’ Union, Channa Jayasekara, Huyen Truong, Janith Jinadasa and Soe Gyi.

Seminars and Conferences

Special Talk on Research Landscape in Germany

Dr. Georg Verweyen, Director of the Information Center, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Bangkok

10 October 2017

Opportunities and Challenges in Inclusive Transformation: Sri Lanka’s SDG Experience

Uchita de Zoysa, Special Advisor to Ministry of Sustainable Development and Wildlife, Sri Lanka.

18 October 2017

Global Science, Technology and Innovation Conference (G-STIC)

Hosted jointly by VITO and its international partners AIT, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IITD), and TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

23-25 October 2017

Alumnus appointed CEO

Yubaraj Bhusal

Yubaraj Bhusal, an alumnus of AIT (Master’s in Regional Development Planning and Management, 1996), has been appointed CEO of Nepal’s National Reconstruction Authority (NRA). The NRA was established to oversee the reconstruction in the afermath of the April 2015 earthquake.

AIT faculty member publishes book on Food Processing

Dr. Anil Kumar Anal with his recent publication "Food Processing By-Products and Their Utilization."

Dr. Anil Kumar Anal, Head, Department of Food, Agriculture & Bioresources, has published a book titled “Food Processing By-Products and Their Utilization.”

Edited by Dr. Anil, the book claims to be the first which is dedicated to food processing by-products and their utilization in a broad spectrum. “It provides a comprehensive overview of food processing by-products and their utilization as a source of novel functional ingredients,” Dr. Anil says.

No Smoking Policy in AIT

AIT has enforced an Institute-wide “No Smoking Policy” that is applicable across the campus, except 10 designated areas. This is in compliance with the law in Thailand as well as the notification issued by the Ministry of Health which classified all universities as Smoking Free Area (Type II) and declared them to be tobacco-free. This classification allows universities to designate select areas where smoking is permitted.

AIT4Mexico

AIT4Mexico was the name of the fiesta organized on 12 October 2017 to express AIT’s support for the earthquake victims in Mexico.

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Coming Up

• AIT Career Fiar and SU Research Exhibition 1 November 2017

• International Forum on Education for Rural Transformation 13-15 November 2017

Credits

Editor: Bajinder Pal Singh bajinder@ait.ac.th

Photos:

Paitoon Tinnapong

Samphat Semathong

AIT Students' Union

G-STIC

Feedback: Contact Office of Media and Communications omco@ait.ac.th