Over 400 students from 37 countries join AIT in August semester

Over 400 students from 37 countries spread across five continents have joined the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in the August 2013 semester.

The August 2013 batch includes students from North and South America, Africa, Europe and Asia, with one student from Sierra Leone becoming the first from his country to join AIT. The maximum student intake is from Thailand, followed by Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh and India. Close to 80 per cent of the students have enrolled for Master’s programs, while the remaining are Doctoral students. Forty-three per cent of the incoming student body is female.

At the Orientation Day program organized on 9 August 2013, Interim AIT President Prof. Worsak Kanok Nukulchai highlighted AIT’s academic excellence and its internationality.

Former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos, Ambassador visit AIT

(From left:) Dr. Sahas Bunditkul, Former President Fidel V. Ramos, and Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai.

Philippines Ambassador to Thailand H.E. Jocelyn S. Batoon-Garcia (right).

Former President of the Philippines Fidel V. Ramos visited AIT on 9 August 2013, meeting with a member of the AIT Executive Committee, the Interim President, Interim Vice President, Acting Deans and members of the Institute’s Philippine expatriate community.

President Ramos was accompanied to the campus by H.E. Mrs. Jocelyn S. Batoon-Garcia, Ambassador of the Philippines to Thailand and Mr. Edgar B. Badajos, Minister

and Consul General, Embassy of the Philippines, Thailand. The 12th President of the Philippines was received by Dr. Sahas Bunditkul, Member, AIT ExecutiveCommittee, and Former Deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand; and Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, Interim AIT President. Prof. Worsak also informed  President Ramos that AIT is interested to attract more Filipino students, faculty and partners.

The new Philippine Ambassador to Thailand H.E. Mrs. Jocelyn S. Batoon-Garcia has enjoined members of AIT’s ample Filipino community to engage the embassy in Bangkok. “We are all working to move AIT forward,” Ambassador Batoon-Garcia told faculty and staff from the Philippines.

‘Save Food Asia-Pacific Campaign’ launched with FAO

From left: Mr. Hiroyuki Konuma, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan and Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai.

AIT, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and other partners have joined to launch the ‘Save Food Asia-Pacific Campaign’. Kicking off the region-wide campaign in Bangkok, Thailand on 27-28 August at the High-Level Multi-Stakeholder Consultation on Food Losses and Food Waste in Asia and the Pacific Region, 130 participants representing 20 countries, including four agriculture ministers, pledged to take action.

Launching the campaign on 27 August 2013 were Mr. Hiroyuki Konuma, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, FAO; H.E. Mr. Yukol Limlamthong, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand; Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, Chairman of UN High Level Panel of Experts on Food and Nutritional Security; and Prof.

Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, AIT’s Interim President.

AIT finds mention in joint statement by Thailand and Pakistan

A joint statement issued by the Government of Pakistan and the Kingdom of Thailand issued at the conclusion of the two-day visit of Her Excellency Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand to Pakistan, mentions AIT.

AIT and Thammasat University are mentioned in the joint statement issued by the Prime Minister of Thailand, H.E. Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, H.E. Mr. Nawaz Sharif. The joint statement says: “The two leaders expressed satisfaction with the increasing numbers of Thai students studying in Pakistan and Pakistani students studying at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and other institutions of higher learning in Thailand. They welcomed the opening of the ‘Pakistan Corner’ at Thammasat University in Bangkok in June 2013.”

Currently, 77 students from Pakistan are studying at AIT. Students from Pakistan form the fifth-largest student cohort after Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar

and Nepal.

Mapping, Monitoring and Managing Human Health: healthGIS 2013

Release of healthGIS 2013 commemorative volume.

The “5th International Conference on health-GIS 2013” hosted and co-organized by AIT on 21-22 August 2013, highlighted AIT’s leadership in GIS and Remote Sensing. The three-day conference, which attracted 125 scientific papers, focused on the use of GIS and related ICT for exploring the various causative factors for diseases, and deliberated on better planning of health care systems.

Eighty-five delegates presented papers and posters under various technical themes, revealed Conference Chairman and Acting Dean of AIT’s School of Engineering and Technology, Dr. Nitin Kumar Tripathi. H.E. Dr. Sahas Bunditkul, Member, Executive Commttee, AIT Board of Trustees delivered the welcome address, while Dr. Somchet Thinapong, Chairman, Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency, was the Chief Guest. Dr. Amnuay Kajina, Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, delivered the welcome address.

CCOP signs MoU with AIT for strengthening cooperation in geosciences

Dr. Adichat Surinkum (left) and Dr. Nguyen Ngoc.

Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia (CCOP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AIT for strengthening

cooperation in the field of geosciences.

CCOP Director, Dr. Adichat Surinkum and AIT Interim President Prof. Worsak Kanok Nukulchai signed the MoU on 28 August 2013.

The agreement is aimed at fostering collaboration in geoscience research and increasing capability of personnel in relevant institutions in CCOP member countries in the fields of policy development, planning, management and technology of geosciences. Dr. Adichat, was accompanied by Dr. Nguyen Ngoc. Regional Expert, CCOP Technical Secretariat.

101 students from 21 countries graduate from AIT

Graduation Ceremony on 5 August 2013.

One hundred and one students from 21 countries graduated from AIT at the informal inter-semester graduation ceremony organized on 5 August 2013. Students from three countries – El Salvador, Mexico and Albania became the first-ever graduates from their respective countries.

The 101 graduates included nine doctoral students, along with a posthumous doctoral degree award to Mr. Sabirullah Muradi of Afghanistan. Thirty-four students from Thailand, 22 from Pakistan, 11 from Vietnam, 10 from Indonesia, three each from India, Nepal and People’s Republic of China, and two students from Laos PDR graduated. One student each from Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, El Salvador, France, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Uzbekistan were among the successful students.

3 AIT students bag awards at K-water internship

From left: Mr. Salman Ali Suhail, Ms. Neha Manadhar, and Mr. Nurrohman Wijaya.

Three AIT students were among the five award recipients during their fiveweek long internship program at the Korea Water Resources Corporation (Kwater).

Mr. Nurrohman Wijaya of Urban Environmental Management (UEM); and Ms. Neha Manadhar of School of Management won awards for their projects; while Mr. Salman Ali Suhail of Geotechnical and Earth Resource Engineering received the best intern award.

Ten AIT students hailing from eight countries were among the 20 students hosted by K-water from 23 June-26 July 2013. Other AIT students who attended the internship program included Mr. Anuj Shrestha and Mr. Adeel Tariq of School of Management; Mr. Nguyen Hong Phuc and Ms. Yali Zhang of Environmental Engineering and Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development; Mr. Min Thu Aung (Water Engineering and Management), Mr. Sakol Kitkasiwat (Mechatronics),

and Ms. Bu Saw (Computer Science), from School of Engineering and Technology (SET).

EEM student wins international Master’s paper award in USA

Mr. Nguyen Hong Phuc.

A paper co-authored by AIT’s Environmental Engineering and Management (EEM) graduate student Mr. Nguyen Hong Phuc earned him a Best Master’s Student

paper award from the West Coast Section– Air and Waste Management Association based in the United States.

The winning paper “Assessment of Air Quality and Climate Co-benefit for Residential Combustion Sector in the red River Delta, Vietnam,” written along with his advisor Dr.

Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh, Phuc evaluated air quality and climate co-benefits possible for rural areas under different fuel-usage scenarios.

Phuc, who is a former lecturer at Hanoi University of Science, is now working on his doctorate at AIT made possible through financial support from the Government of Norway.

Photo Gallery- Orientation Day

Registration counter at AIT Orientation Day.

AIT Orientation Day.

AIT Orientation Day.

Prof. Sivanappan Kumar.

AIT Orientation Day.

Dr. Nitin Kumar Tripathi.

Dr. Donyaprueth Krairit.

Prof. Chettiyappan Visvanathan.

AIT Orientation Day.

Mr. Ko Ko Lwin.

AIT Orientation Day.

Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai.

35 students from 5 Institutes participate in AIT program

Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai with students of JIS group.

Thirty-five students from five colleges belonging to India’s JIS group of institutions participated in the fortnight-long summer training program organized at AIT. The program, which began on 22 July 2013, ended with a gala cultural performance on 2 August 2013, where visiting students displayed their talent.

AIT students share experience from Japan

Audience at the DPMM seminar.

Five students from the Disaster Preparedness Mitigation and Management (DPMM) field of study shared their experience about the impact of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, and Coastal Disaster Management based on their study trips to Japan. These students were associated with the Disaster Resilient Countries (DRC) and Intensive Programme on Sustainability (IPoS) programs.

News You Can Use

How much is a degree really worth?

Graduates, on average, earn around £200,000 more over a lifetime than non-graduates – taking into account all the costs involved of being a 21st-century student, says the Guardian. Best estimates suggest on average increase in earnings of 28% for men (approximately £168,000) and 53% for women (around £252,000), it says.

Read more at this link: http://goo.gl/rLe8Uq

This follows a Business, Innovations and Skills (BIS) Research Paper released in UK titled “University degrees: impact on lifecycle of earnings.” The paper can be downloaded from this link: http://goo.gl/SigqCO

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Credits:

Editor: Bajinder Pal Singh bajinder@ait.asia

Photos: Paitoon Tinnapong

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