AIT Co-hosts Biggest-ever Social Business Day

AIT Once Again Comes Out Top in International Orientation

10 New Scholarships for Masters Degree Programs at AIT

Q & A with Professor Deepak Sharma, Vice President for Academic Affairs

Highly Commended Paper Literati Awards 2019 for AIT Authors

NATS Lab is a 'Laboratory of Excellence'

Global Engagements

Seminars and Workshops

People

World Environment Day

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Follow AIT

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AIT Co-hosts Biggest-ever Social Business Day

Ten years after the launch of the Yunus Centre at AIT, the Institute was host to the biggest-ever Social Business Day (SBD) so far. The 9th Social Business Day (28-29 June 2019) witnessed participation from nearly 1,500 delegates from 59 countries. Organized every year to commemorate the achievements of the Social Business movement led by Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus, the Bangkok event set the bar even higher for SBD celebrations, a fact Prof. Yunus proudly mentioned.

“Bangkok has outdone everybody, and it has established a new benchmark for organizing the Social Business Day,” Prof. Yunus said. AIT came in for a special mention by Prof. Yunus, who thanked Yunus Centre at AIT and its Director Dr. Faiz Shah and AIT President Dr. Eden Y. Woon. “A big round of applause for AIT,” the Nobel laureate remarked.

President Woon described the event as a fitting occasion that coincided with the celebrations of AIT’s 60th anniversary as well as the 10th anniversary of the Yunus Centre. Yunus Centre at AIT was the first such centre when it was established in 2009, which has now been replicated by 76 universities. The AIT President added that AIT would play a lead role in collaborating with Yunus Centres worldwide.

Addresses were delivered by Lamiya Morshed, Executive Director, Yunus Centre; Dr. Eden Woon; Mr. Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi, Chairman, C-asean; Emmanuel Faber, Chief Executive Officer, Danone; Dr. Armida Alisjahbana, ESCAP Executive Secretary; and Mechai Viravaidya, Chair, Mechai Viravaidya Foundation, and Mr. Suphachai Chearavanont, CEO CP Group. Video messages were delivered by António Guterres, UN Secretary General; José Graziano da Silva, Director General of the

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); and actor Matt Damon and Gary White, co-founders of water.org, among others.

AIT Once Again Comes Out Top in International Orientation

AIT maintained its top position, with six perfect scores in the category International Orientation, according to the latest rankings released by U-Multirank on 4 June 2019. This is the third consecutive year that AIT has maintained its top position. AIT also obtained perfect scores on four other indicators: research publications (size-normalised), external research income, income from private sources (per full time equivalent academic staff), and income from continuous professional development (as a percentage of total income).

AIT was also among the top 25 Global Performers in the category Income from Continuous Professional Development. AIT’s perfect score in International Orientation is due to its foreign language masters and bachelors programs, student mobility, international academic staff (as a percentage of total academic staff), international joint publications (as a percentage of total publications), and international doctoral degrees (as a percentage of total doctoral degrees). Mul-tiple factors are taken into consideration in ranking all institutions in the International Orientation category. These include the existence of joint and dual degree programs and study periods abroad, percentage of international students, percentage of international academic staff, and student mobility, among others.

10 New Scholarships for Masters Degree Programs at AIT

Ten new scholarships will be available for pursuing Master Degree Programs at AIT from the August 2019 semester. This follows an agreement signed by Siam Cement Public Company Limited (SCG) and Dr. Eden Y. Woon, President of AIT on 16 May 2019.

SCG will sponsor two candidates every year for five years. Candidate can either be SCG employees who fulfil AIT's admission requirements, or they can be recommended for an SCG scholarship by AIT. Earlier, Dr. Woon met SCG President and CEO, Mr. Roongrote Rangsiyopash and his top management on 12 March 2019 where issues of mutual collaboration and partnership were discussed. Mr. Sanjeev Jayasinghe, Director of Advancement and Alumni Affairs, AIT participated in the deliberations.

AIT President Dr. Eden Y Woon said: "As AIT transforms itself to be relevant for the next 60 years, it is very important for AIT to forge closer relationships with industry and enterprises. To this effect the MoA that I have signed with SCG will provide the opportunity for qualified Masters students to enroll at AIT and be provided with an innovative and hands on curriculum that will help them in their future career. I thank SCG for providing this opportunity."

Q & A with Professor Deepak Sharma, Vice President for Academic Affairs

Prof. Deepak Sharma, who joined AIT as the Vice President for Academic Affairs after spending 28 years in the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) spoke with AIT's Office of Public Affairs (OPA). Asked about his vision of AIT, and the VPAA remarked: "I would like AIT to be an institution that is renowned and respected for being true to its own values; a crucible for contesting ideas; welcoming of cultural diversity and human enterprise; contributing to a balanced redress of global challenges through its academic discourses; and meaningfully engaged with community and society at large, through its socially impactful research. In short, an institution that is intrinsically a force for good."

Read the complete interview at this link: https://bit.ly/2FJ5oU5

Highly Commended Paper Literati Awards 2019 for AIT Authors

Research at AIT has earned the Institute the Highly Commended Paper Literati Award 2019 from Emerald Publishing, United

Kingdom. A paper authored by Dr. Jedsadaporn Sathapatyanon, a graduate of AIT’s School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD), titled “The Role of Farmer Organizations and Networks in the Rice Supply Chain in Thailand” is this year’s

recipient of the Award.

Handing over the award certificate on 4 June 2019 were Ms. Vallada Pattarapokinset, Emerald Publishing representative in Thailand, and Ms. Han Wen Cheng, Associate Regional Marketing Manager based in Taiwan, Emerald Publishing. Also honored were her advisor, Dr. John K. M. Kuwornu and committee members, Dr. Peeyush Soni, Dr. Anil Kumar Anal, Dr. Avishek Datta and Prof. Ganesh Shivakoti who co-authored the award-winning paper.

NATS Lab is a 'Laboratory of Excellence'

The Naturally Acceptable and Technological Sustainable (NATS) lab in AIT's Environmental Engineering and Management has been awarded a "Certificate of Excellence" by Waters ERA for achieving 100% acceptable data in their proficiency testing. Over 1000 laboratories participated in this testing process.

Global Engagements

INCOMING DELEGATIONS

Mr. Tatsuya Kanai, Senior Advisor, ADB

Mr. Tatsuya Kanai, Senior Advisor, Partner Funds Division, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, Asian Development Bank (ADB) visited AIT on 6 June 2019 where he interacted with senior AIT officials as well as ADB scholarship recipients.

6 June 2019

Ambassador of South Africa to Thailand

H.E Mr. Geoffrey Quinton Mitchell Doidge, Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa to Thailand let a eight-member delegation to AIT. He was accompanied by senior

embassy officials, representatives of universities, Chambers of Commerce.

7 June 2019

MoU with Yangon University of Economics

AIT signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Yangon University of Economics, Myanmar. The MoU was signed by Prof. Tin Win, Rector, Yangon University of Economics, and AIT President Dr. Eden Y Woon.

13 June 2019

Ambassador of Pakistan to Thailand

Ambassador of Pakistan to Thailand, H.E. Mr. Asim Iftikhar Ahmad led a delegation of embassy officials to AIT. He was accompanied by Mr. Faraz Zaidi, Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission, and Mr. Sadaqat Ur Rahman, First Secretary.

17 June 2019

Delegation from the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE)

A delegation from the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE) visited AIT on 18 June 2019 and interacted with Dr. Eden Y Woon, President, AIT. The delegation included Mr. Ai Hongge, Deputy Director-General, CSCSE, and Mr. Wei Wei, Deputy Director, Division of International Cooperation, CSCSE and Mr. Huo Da, Program Manager, Division of International Cooperation, CSCSE.

18 June 2019

Brunel University, London

Vice Chancellor and President of Brunel University, Prof. Julia Buckingham led a delegation to AIT. The delegation included Prof. Rakesh Kanda, Vice Dean International, Professor in Exposome Science, College of Health and Life Science (CHLS), and Mr. Richard Emery, Head of International Partnerships.

19 June 2019

Seminars and Workshops

Impact of Energy Efficiency on Economic Growth: A Nonlinear Panel Data Estimation

By Dr. Sabuj Kumar Mandal, Indian Institute of Technology (Madras)

4 June 2019

AI Chips and the Impact of Machine Learning on Processor Technology and System Architectures

By Dr. Adriano José da Conceição Tavares, University of Minho, Portugal

11 June 2019

Fusion of Hard and Soft (AI) Control Strategies for a Smart Prosthetic/Robotic Hand

By Prof. Desineni Subbaram Naidu, University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD),USA

13 June 2019

Real-time Geoelectric Monitoring

By Dr. Robert Supper, Vice General Director, Austrian Geological Survey

19 June 2019

Recognition and Forecast of Synoptic Meteorological Patterns for Air Pollution Episode Prediction

By Prof. Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh, AIT

19 June 2019

Kick Off Meeting for Erasmus+ Data Science & AI

20-21 June 2019

Multi-Stakeholder Workshop on “Jobs in SEZs: Promoting Gender-Sensitive Policies in the Mekong Region”

The event was organized by AIT and the Mekong Migration Network and supported by the International Development. Opening remarks by Ms. Ayesha Rekhi, Counsellor,

Embassy of Canada to Thailand, Lao and Cambodia; Ms. Gilliam Dowie, International Development Research Centre, Canada; Dr. Eden Y Woon, President, AIT; and Ms. Reiko Harima, Regional Coordinator, Mekong Migration Network.

20-21 June 2019

PEOPLE

Dr. Teerapat Sanguankotchakorn has been appointed Member of the Board of Directors of Banpu Public Company Limited. Dr. Teerapat’s role will be to oversee policies regarding IT and Telecommunication Infrastructure for the whole organization. Dr. Teerapat also serves as a member of the Board of Governors of the Thai Public Broadcasting Service (ThaiPBS).

World Environment Day

World Environment Day was celebrated at AIT on 5 June 2019. Organized by the Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific (RRC.AP), events included tree planting, a talk on "Beat Air Pollution," and a Fun Run.

News You Can Use

Generous RTG Fellowships

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

Photos:

Paitoon Tinnapong

Samphat Semathong

Contact: Office of Public Affairs opa@ait.ac.th