Pageantry, pomp and grandeur mark AIT Welcome Show

Pakistan Higher Education Commission Chairman discusses expanded cooperation

160 undergraduate students welcomed at AIT

Something for everyone: President Worsak’s interview in the Bangkok Post

EJEC offers scholarship for study at AIT

Mitsubishi Rayon donates 1 million Yen to AGS

Library Modernization

AIT Alumni Club at KMUTT donates 500,000 THB

Biggest post-flood books gift from AAPG

PEOPLE

AIT alumnus is new Director-General of Department of Highways, Thailand

AIT salutes its brave alumna Palwasha Tokhy Meranzai

‘Eco Heroes’ champion waste segregation project

AIT Welcome Show: 19 September 2014

45 volunteers donate at AIT Blood Donation Camp

News You Can Use

Follow AIT

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Pageantry, pomp and grandeur mark AIT Welcome Show

For scores of students arriving at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), the Welcome Show is their first ‘real’ taste of their campus life ahead. Internationality and diversity add to the pomp, pageantry and grandeur of this signature event which is quintessentially “AIT.”

On 19 September 2014, as the curtains rolled, teams from 14 countries displayed their talents and competed for honours. A highlight this year was student performances from Bangkok University and Thammasat University.

Eight hours of rigorous performances later, the results were announced with Nepal winning both the solo and group song competitions. Myanmar won the group dance,Thailand won the talent competition, while the team from Sri Lanka was the winner in drama. Mr. Antonio P. Jegillos Jr. of Philippines and Ms. Sharon Soe of Myanmar were crowned as Mr. and Ms. AIT respectively.

Pakistan Higher Education Commission Chairman discusses expanded cooperation

AIT delegation with HEC Chairman (center).

H.E. Dr. Sohail Khan (left) with Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai.

Prof. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan, has expressed a desire to expand ties with AIT, and offered to host a visit by the AIT President for strategic discussions. He was speaking at a high-level meeting on 19 September 2014 hosted by the Pakistan Embassy in Bangkok. AIT President Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai was joined at the meeting by Professor Emeritus Dr. Sahas Bunditkul, Chairman of the Executive Committee.

Prof. Mukhtar added that he was proud to be an honorary member of the AIT Alumni Association. H.E. Dr. Sohail Khan, Ambassador of Pakistan to Thailand stated that AIT was among the few fully recognized international universities in Pakistan. Earlier, during a visiting to AIT, the Ambassador interacted with students of the World Bank-funded Water Resources and Irrigation Technology Management Program.

160 undergraduate students welcomed at AIT

Undergraduate students at AIT Orientation.

A batch of 160 students, a majority of them from partner institutes in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Nepal, were welcomed at the Orientation Day program for undergraduate students organized at the AIT Conference Center on 1 September 2014.

The largest cohort of 100 undergraduate students came from the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine, Sri Lanka. Fifty students from MCCi, Myanmar, and three from Nepal Education Foundation – Consortium of Colleges, Nepal (NEF-CCN), were the other students who entered the third year of studies at AIT, after having completed their first two years in their home countries. Seven fresh students also joined the first year of undergraduate programs, including four girls (two from Bangladesh, one from Nepal, and one from China), and three boys from Bhutan.

Something for everyone: President Worsak’s interview in the Bangkok Post

AIT President Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai was interviewed by Thailand’s Bangkok Post newspaper. Based on the interview, a feature article was published in the Life section of the newspaper on September 3. Titled “Something for everyone,” the article was written by Bangkok Post’s Senior Writer, Yvonne Bohwongprasert.

The article can be read at this link: http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/interview/430220/something-for-everyone

EJEC offers scholarship for study at AIT

EJEC delegation at AIT.

Eight-Japan Engineering Consultants Inc (EJEC) has offered a scholarship for a student to pursue a Master’s degree at AIT.

This was formalized at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between EJEC and AIT on 9 September 2014.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Ryoji Isoyama, Executive Director, EJEC, and Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, President, AIT. The scholarship will be granted to a student enrolled in either Structural Engineering or the Disaster Preparedness Mitigation and Management (DPMM) program.

Mitsubishi Rayon donates 1 million Yen to AGS

Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai (left) and Mr. Takahiro Ikeda.

Mitsubishi Rayon has donated 1 million Yen as support for the Alliance for Global Sustainability (AGS) Asia at AIT. The donation was made during a visit of senior  officials of Mitsubishi Rayon to AIT on 4 September 2014.

The delegation included Mr. Takahiro Ikeda, Director of Board and Managing Executive Officer, Aqua Business Block, Purchasing and Logistics Department; and Mr. Tsutomu Yuri, Director, Global Business Development, Aqua Division. Mr. Ikeda also proposed that they could also send one of their employees for studying at AIT — an offer that was welcomed by the AIT President, Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai and Vice President Prof. Kazuo Yamamoto.

LIBRARY MODERNIZATION

AIT Alumni Club at KMUTT donates 500,000 THB

AIT delegation at KMUTT.

The AIT Alumni Club at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), led by Dr. Tongchat Hongladaromp, KMUTT Board Chair, on 12 September 2014 presented a donation of 0.5 million Baht to AIT President Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai for the renovation and modernization of the AIT Library.

Prof. Worsak thanked the AIT Alumni at KMUTT, and presented details of the AIT Library modernization project that will see the flood-damaged facility become a central campus learning space and interactive community center.

Biggest post-flood books gift from AAPG

The AAPG collection.

AIT received its biggest post-flood library donation with the arrival of 800 boxes of periodicals from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). The shipment arrived from the AAPG at AIT last month, and the 128 titles cover 1200 linear feet of shelving. Coordinating the acceptance was the Coordinator, AIT Library, Ms. Pranee Kiriyanant, and Dr. Pham Huy Giao of School of Engineering and Technology (SET). Dr. Giao thanked AIT alumna, Dr. Peangta Satarugsa of Khon Kaen University; and Dr. Jon Blickwede and Dr. Martin Cassidy, Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Publication Pipeline Committee of AAPG for the donation.

PEOPLE

AIT alumnus is new Director-General of Department of Highways, Thailand

Mr. Chusak Gaywee

Mr. Chusak Gaywee, President of AIT Alumni Association (Thailand), has been appointed as the new Director General of the Department of Highways, Thailand.

Mr. Chusak asumes his position from 1 October 2014. His appointment was approved by the Council of Ministers, Royal Thai Government, in its meeting held on 23 September 2014. Mr. Chusak Gaywee received his Master’s in Engineering in Structural Engineering and Construction from AIT in 1982. Mr. Chusak is the fifth AIT alumnus to hold this position.

The previous four AIT alumni who held this position include: Mr. Sathien Vongvichien (1986-1990); Dr. Srisook Chandrangsu (1997 – 2000); Mr. Thurdsakdi Sedthamanop (2002 – 2005); and Mr. Nikorn Boonsri (2007 – 2008). Dr. Srisook was also President of AITAA (Thailand).

AIT salutes its brave alumna Palwasha Tokhy Meranzai

Scanned image from AIT’s 121st Batch Book.

AIT offers its condolences and salutations to its brave alumna Palwasha Tokhy Meranzai who was killed amidst tragic circumstances in Balkh province in Afghanistan.

It was in May 2014 that Palwasha graduated with a Master’s in Regional and Rural Development and Planning (RRDP) from AIT’s School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD).

Palwasha was working with Bayan Radio Station in Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan. She is the fifth Afghan and seventh journalist to be killed in Afghanistan this year. News stories report that she was stabbed by an assassin who later fled. Palwasha was one of the seven female AIT alumni from Afghanistan.

‘Eco Heroes’ champion waste segregation project

Ms. Siwaporn Tangwanichagapong (left) and Ms. Phyoe Thet Khaing.

If you have been wondering about the sudden appearance of strategically placed cages in front of your favourite food haunts at AIT, then look no further. Two AIT students have been instrumental in championing the cause of a more efficient way of waste segregation.

Two students, Ms. Phyoe Thet Khaing, a Master’s student of Environmental Engineering and Management (EEM) and Ms. Siwaporn Tangwanichagapong, a Doctoral

student of Urban Engineering and Management (UEM) have been working together towards a threefold target — focus on waste segregation, generating income for low-paid workers at AIT, and reducing the volume of landfill waste at the dumping station. “In the month of August, we collected 90 kilograms of packaging waste, and this yielded 700 THB for two of AIT’s cleaning staff,” Phyoe says. Their initiative is one segment of a larger project “Greening AIT Campus Initiative.” led by Prof. C Visvanathan, Interim Dean, School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD).

AIT Welcome Show: 19 September 2014

45 volunteers donate at AIT Blood Donation Camp

News You Can Use

Google reveals most searched-for universities

“This ranking of online searches is very different from the traditional map of the global powerhouses of higher education.There is a strong interest in online courses, rather than traditional campusbased universities, says Google.

The top search worldwide is for the University of Phoenix, a USbased, for-profit university, with many online courses.

Read the entire article at this link: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29240959

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Credits:

Editor: Bajinder Pal Singh bajinder@ait.asia

Photos:

Paitoon Tinnapong

Tejas Tamobhid Patnaik

Fawad Najam

S. Hariadi Imawan

Cover photo: Tejas Tamobhid Patnaik

Feedback: Media and Communications Unit at AIT mcu@ait.asia

Table of Contents

Pageantry, pomp and grandeur mark AIT Welcome Show

Pakistan Higher Education Commission Chairman discusses expanded cooperation

160 undergraduate students welcomed at AIT

Something for everyone: President Worsak’s interview in the Bangkok Post

EJEC offers scholarship for study at AIT

Mitsubishi Rayon donates 1 million Yen to AGS

Library Modernization

AIT Alumni Club at KMUTT donates 500,000 THB

Biggest post-flood books gift from AAPG

PEOPLE

AIT alumnus is new Director-General of Department of Highways, Thailand

AIT salutes its brave alumna Palwasha Tokhy Meranzai

Eco Heroes’ champion waste segregation project

AIT Welcome Show: 19 September 2014

45 volunteers donate at AIT Blood Donation Camp

News You Can Use

Follow AIT

Credits