28 February 2011
The President's weekly letters are archived at http://pwl.ait.asia/
Dear Members of the AIT Community,
:AIT inaugurated a new office in Shanghai, a first of its kind in the People's Republic of China on 24 February 2011. The formal ribbon cutting ceremony to inaugurate the AIT China office was jointly performed by H.E. Dr. Tej Bunnag, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Ms. Yang Xinyu, Member, Board of Trustees, AIT and Deputy Secretary-General, China Scholarship Council (CSC), Ministry of Education, People's Republic of China (PRC); and myself.
The AIT China Office has been established by AIT in collaboration with YueHan (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd. The AIT China Office will increase the visibility of AIT in China and will help in student recruitment, joint ventures and offering short courses.
The AIT China Office in Shanghai could be the first step in the opening of an AIT Center in China. More than 700 Chinese students have graduated from AIT since 1984 and it is our belief that successful operations in China require local presence and competence, and the AIT China Office will channel AIT's strengths to serve China's national goals of human capital development and sustainable green economic growth.
In his remarks at the event H.E. Dr. Tej Bunnag said the AIT China office not only reaffirms the institute's long-standing relationship with China, but also signifies the beginning of a new era based on "an ardent desire for a bright future of linkages in higher education between China and Thailand, and other countries in the region." He added that "apart from establishing a physical presence in Shanghai, AIT will expand its collaboration with its Chinese partners and intensify its human resource development and capacity building service".
Ms. Yang Xinyu, while welcoming the opening of AIT China Office said this would strengthen AIT's relations with China. Prof. Zhou Nanzhao, President of UNESCO Asia-Pacific Network of International Education and Value Education (APNIEVE) and President of Chinese Council of Private Higher Education spoke on "Enhanced AIT-China cooperation as a win-win strategy in building on Asia's power in higher education and inclusive sustainable development." Prof. Ren Youqun, Vice President of East China Normal University and Vice President and General Secretary of APNIEVE-China talked about the opportunities in China in the field of higher education and capacity building. Mr. Johan Wikander, AIT Representative in China, informed about the future plans of the AIT China Office. Dr. Jonathan Shaw, Director, AIT Extension said that the 20 year long partnership between AIT and the Ministry of Education, PRC has been central to the cooperation between AIT and PRC in general.
In another agreement signed to coincide with the opening of the AIT China Office, CSC announced that it will offer 40 scholarships to Chinese students to pursue Master's and doctoral studies at AIT. The scholarship will include tuition fee, registration fee and research fee, living stipend, visa fee and return airfare. The CSC scholarship program shall run for four years. The Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was signed by Ms. Yang Xinyu and me.
Dignitaries present on the occasion included Mr. Piroon Laismit, Consul General of Thailand in Shanghai; Mr. Bjørn O. Blokhus, Consul General of Norway in Shanghai; Mr. Zafar Hasan, Consul General of Pakistan in Shanghai; and Mr. Bengt Johansson, Consul General of Sweden in Shanghai.
In addition to H.E. Dr. Tej Bunnag, myself, Mr. Wikander, and Dr. Shaw, the AIT delegation also comprised of Dr. Weerakorn Ongsakul, Dean, School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD); Dr. Pritam Krishna Shrestha, Head, External Relations and Communications Office (ERCO); and Ms. Hui Qu Janson, Deputy AIT Representative in China.
Further details available at the below link:
http://www.ait.asia/news-and-events/2011/news/ait-inaugurates-china-office-in-shanghai/view
Highlights of additional meetings held in conjunction with the opening of the AIT China Office are provided below:
: On 23rd February 2011, during my trip to Shanghai, I met Dr. Yang Bin, Director and Vice General Manager of the company, a state-owned organization. Dr. Bin informed that for the high pace development of Tianjin, there is high demand of skilled manpower, which is currently lacking. The company itself, with 3,000+ employees, aspires to have more people with advanced education and so needs to train them. The company itself had invested in a school for software development that has now 4,000 students. It is interested to work with AIT in delivering the required skilled manpower in Tianjin through short and long term training. Prof. Zhou Nan-zhao, President of UNESCO Asia-Pacific Network for International Education and Values Education (APNIEVE) who had introduced Dr. Bin to me in my earlier visit to Beijing suggested a tri-partite agreement between AIT, APNIEVE and the company for delivering the trainings.
: On 23rd February 2011, also during my trip to Shanghai, PRC, I met Professor Ning Bin, President of Beijing Jiaotong University (BJU). We discussed about possible joint activities between our two institutions. Amongst them, BJU is interested in student exchanges at the doctoral level; joint training programs to be delivered at Beijing, Shanghai or Bangkok; and 2-stage master's program in high-speed railway, which is BJU's expertise. ERCO will be developing a general MoU for collaboration with BJU, and will be liaising with relevant school/units for developing collaborative activities with BJU. Professor Bin and his team comprising of Prof. Yugong Xu, Director , Office of International Cooperation and Exchange, and Ms. Liu Yang, International Officer in the same office had flown in from Beijing to attend the AIT China Office Opening. I was joined by my colleagues SERD-Dean Dr. Weerakorn Ongsakul, AIT Extension Director Dr. Jonathan Shaw, Head-ERCO Dr. Pritam K. Shrestha and Deputy AIT Representative in China Ms. Hui Qu Jansons.
: On 25th February 2011, SERD-Dean Weerakorn Ongsakul visited the College of Environmental Science & Engineering at Tongji University in Shanghai, PRC and met Associate Dean Prof. Fengting Li. While Head-ERCO Dr. Pritam K. Shrestha joined him in the meeting, from their side, Dean Assistant Dr. Bing Wu and Director of the General Office, UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development Ms. Li Dong were present in the meeting. Dr. Weerakorn proposed Tongji Univ. staff to apply for the China Scholarship Council scholarships to study at AIT, and informed them about the opening of AIT China Office in Shanghai. Possible joint activities, such as student exchange, dual degree programs, short courses / training programs to be delivered at Shanghai or in Bangkok, and unified bachelor-master's programs were also discussed. It is to be noted that AIT is already engaged with Tongji University through UNEP's joint program on Environment for Sustainable Development.
There is an article on the topic "Climate change in black and white" which appeared in the 17 February 2011 issue of The Economist. Much of the work cited in the report was initiated by the AIT-UNEP Regional Resource Center for Asia and Pacific (RRC.AP). In particular it pertains to studies conducted on the Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABC).
I would like to thank Mr. Mahesh Pradhan, AIT alumnus and former Director of the AIT-UNEP.RRC.AP, who is currently Heading the Environmental Education and Training Unit (EETU), Division of Environmental Policy Implementation (DEPI) at UNEP HQs, for sharing this good news with us.
http://www.economist.com/node/18175423
: On 24 February 2011, Mr. Craig Steffensen, the new Country Director of ADB Thailand Resident Mission visited AIT to learn about AIT's latest initiatives and possible collaboration between ADB and the future "Asian Water Research and Education" (AWARE) Center.
Through his former responsibilities, Mr. Steffensen already had the chance to visit AIT several times to testify of the dynamic joint activities between our two institutions in research projects, capacity building and scholarships programs (ADB Japan Scholarship Program ADB-JSP). Mr. Steffensen's predecessor, Mr. Jean-Pierre Verbiest, Former Country Director of ADB, has been very actively involved in AIT's governance as the Chairman of the AIT Executive Committee and Vice Chairman of the AIT Board of Trustees. The possibility for ADB to extend its membership under the new Charter was also discussed and will be followed up. Mr. Steffensen ensured AIT of his support and his willingness to continue on the same constructive path.
Dr. Mukand Singh Babel, Associate Professor from WEM, presented the outline of the AWARE Center expected to be launched this year. The new Center will gather all the Fields of Study working in the water area at AIT in order to provide a comprehensive academic and research offer. Several partners including ADB have shown a keen interest in this new initiative. Mr. Steffensen is very much willing to assist AIT in meeting ADB's Director General and senior Managers when they next visit Thailand, to study how ADB could be involved in the AWARE Center.
Attending the meeting were Dr. Mukand Singh Babel, Associate Professor from WEM, Mr. Olivier Drean, Acting Head of External Relations and Communications Office (ERCO), Mr. Bajinder Pal Singh, Medial Specialist – MCU, and Ms. Tiamkare Thitithamtada, Program Officer-ERCO. Prof. Sudip Rakshit, Vice President for Research hosted the lunch with Mr. Steffensen, who also had a side meeting with Dr. Riaz Khan, Director of the Yunus Center at AIT.
Further details available at the below link:
http://www.ait.asia/news-and-events/2011/news/adb-country-director-pays-maiden-visit-to-ait/view
: I attended the meeting with Professor Joydeep Dutta, Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) and school deans on February 21, where the ongoing recruitment of students and other academic matters was discussed. The VPAA informed the meeting on the outcomes of the Admissions Committee deliberations on the 9th of February 2011. It was agreed that a single scholarship committee will be formed at the institute level and I have asked the VPAA to form the scholarship committee in discussion with the deans. It was suggested that an active follow up with applicants need to be done right from now and we will work on this. I also took this opportunity to remind the deans that care should be taken when proceeding with new faculty recruitment so that colleagues with international experience are recruited keeping up with the culture and needs of AIT.
: On February 22 along with the VPAA I met with the Dean of the School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD) and the faculty members of the Pulp and Paper Technology field of study, discussing about the current working of the field and its future directions. I was happy to learn about the various initiatives being taken by the school and faculty colleagues in building up activities with paper industries across the region. The meeting was very fruitful and I have asked the dean to coordinate with the faculties and come up with a strategic plan of operation for the unit and its future plans.
: Professor Joydeep Dutta, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor Gabor L. Hornyak, Interim Director of the Center for Learning Innovation and Quality (CLIQ) attended the Workshop on Analysis of Cross-Border Higher Education for Regional Integration and Labor Market in East Asia, held 23-24 February 2011, Bangkok which was organized by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization SEAMEO Regional Centre for Higher Education and Development together with JICA.
I was informed about the various new initiatives in student-exchange across the region; cross-border collaborative degree programs and the institutional governance including Higher Education Loans that were discussed at the workshop. Professor Dutta informed me that he mentioned at the workshop about AIT's role in the cross-border education for the last more than 50 years being an institution serving the region.
: The AIT Mathivation Center led by Mr. Farid Nolen, Visiting AIT Fellow, has been very active andMr. Nolen shared with us the below statistics on their outreach work, which is also being continuously updated through their website.
-15,725 students and educators have attended talks and workshops since September 2009
-1,297 teachers have completed teacher training in "Inspirational Methodologies of Mathivation" with certificates from AIT
-256 talks and workshops in 7 countries, 26 cities, 53 institutions
-Countries include: Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, India, China and Japan.
-726 copies of the book Says Who have been sold in 9 countries worldwide.
: The International Development Research Centre (IDRC, Canada) has highly evaluated the AIT concept note "Climate change adaptation in vulnerable coastal communities via environmental management" proposed by the team of experts led by Dr Oleg Shipin (EEM, SERD) in response to the call "Adapting to Climate Change in Vulnerable Coastal Communities".
As a result of the review by IDRC, only 17 concept notes (from more than 300 received) have been selected for further project development (Ca$500,000 for 3 years).
The AIT team comprises Drs Alfredo Anceno (EEM), Vilas Nitivattananon (UEM), Mokbul Moshed Ahmad (RRDP), Theo Ebbers (Wetlands Alliance), Nitin Tripathi (RS-GIS), Phillip Doneys (GDS). Four AIT partners are the Khulna University (Bangladesh), State University of Papua (Indonesia), The Learning Institute (Cambodia), NGO Sustainable Smiles chaired by AIT student Ms Kelly Franklin (Phuket, Thailand).
I would like to congratulate Dr. Shipin and team, and wish them all success for the next round of selections.
: Professor C. Visvanathan, faculty colleague in the Environmental Engineering and Management field of study, SERD, has informed me of the good news that the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) - Intersessional Conference on Building Partnerships for Moving towards Zero Waste, held on 16-18 February, 2011, Tokyo, Japan, has requested AIT to host the Secretariat of the International partnership for Expanding Waste Management Services of Local Authorities (IPLA). This meeting was represented by 50 countries, and attended by 200 participants mainly representing local and national governments, and public waste utilities.
In the final Chair's summary, it was reported that:
"The meeting unanimously endorsed the establishment of IPLA to be launched during CSD 19 in May, 2011. The meeting extended its gratitude to AITto host the Global Secretariat of IPLA. IPLA will be implemented as a decentralized network of multiple stakeholders in the interest of serving the needs of PUWS. A number of Institutions, government representatives and NGOs expressed their keen interest in joining IPLA in various roles such as acting as regional/sub-regional/nationals secretariats."
The IPLA Global Secretariat will be launched at the CSD 19 meeting 2-13 May, 2011 in New York. Following the launch UNCRD and AIT will jointly look for secretariat operational funding and jointly develop the secretariat activity plan for the next 2-3 years.
I would like to thank Professor Visvanathan and other numerous well wishers of AIT and AIT alumni, who attended this meeting in Tokyo, for having strongly supported AIT's position. Professor Visvanathan informed me of important role and contributions of AIT alumnus Mr. Mohanty of UNCRD, and Dr. Modak - IIT-Mumbai and EMC, (who prepared the IPLA background paper), for pushing AIT's position to this level.
: On 21 February 2011, I attended the 4th Institute-wide Promotions Meeting (IWP), which reviewed and discussed the Institute-wide promotions activities. I informed the meeting that the promotional activities will be easier due to the fact that AIT has developed more innovative academic programs, particularly, the professional programs. Also the expected organizational change will also contribute to a more structured promotional activity. The organizational restructuring is still a work in progress and there will be discussions with Deans on when it can be implemented. I also informed schools that their budget shall be revised accordingly if schools' enrollment targets have not been achieved as per budgeted.
Dean SET, Dean SERD, SOM representative, AIT Extension Director presented promotion activities carried out by respective school/office. All schools presented their action plan for 2011 in standard template. Dean SET informed the meeting that all fields in SET except 3 fields of study meet and/or exceed their targeted enrollment in January 2011 intake, thus he was suggested to discuss with these 3 fields of study to find out latest status and immediate action plan. Dean SERD reported that SERD has an increase in number of enrolled students and expects annual increase of 10%. I welcomed the idea of Dean SERD to involve faculty members for promotions to visit at least 2 Thai Universities per field of study.AIT Extension Director reported that AIT Extension generated 10 million Thai Baht for FY2010, and already secured 50% of FY2011 projected annual fund in Quarter 1 of 2011. It was informed to the meeting that AIT Extension will launch a professional master's in banking and finance for Bangladesh banks in collaboration with SOM on 14 March 2011. Head-ERCO presented the institute-wide promotions activities coordinated by ERCO, while the Admissions & Scholarships Unit Coordinator briefed about enrollment update for January 2011.
Head-ERCO also discussed about University Ranking vs. University Rating system. I suggested that the effort into getting degree recognition or ranking for AIT is a long-term plan. For the time being, the employability of the AIT graduates should be highlighted. Study can be done to find out how long it takes for an alumnus to find a job after graduation. I suggested VPRD to discuss with AIT Alumni Affair Office to conduct regular alumni tracer study on newly graduated alumni, about employment status 6 months after their graduation. Information on employability shall be highlighted in promotional materials.
VPRD suggested that it is now a good time to arrange Open House in order to attract Thai students as they are graduating soon. He further suggested that each school should arrange the open house weekly – such as every Friday, and to assign some students or staff at each school who could guide the prospective students inside AIT when they visit the open house.
I suggested responsible ERCO staff for target countries to spend some time, on regularly basis, to gather market intelligence and share information which will be useful to the schools and offices. I also suggested ERCO to coordinate with Student Union and students to involve students for promotional activities in respective countries. The meeting discussed to carry out more coordinated activities among 3 schools and ERCO as the immediate joint efforts show efficiency and cost effectiveness. Next quarterly Institute-wide promotions meetings in 2011 are scheduled to be held on 4th April 2011, 1st July 2011 and 30th September 2011.
: I was unable to attend the Academic Senate (AS) meeting held on 23 February, but have been informed that the AS has established two task forces : (i) To review the proposed amendments in the P&P on Introduction of New Programs and (ii) To revisit the complete rules and regulations regarding the 'Masters leading to Doctoral Program. Also the School have been requested to discuss the issues namely 'Advanced courses for doctoral students' and 'Eligibility of admission to regular masters program (with regards to previous bachelor degree duration) following which further discussion would be held in AS meeting. The AS has also requested the members to submit their comments/feedback regarding the guidelines on plagiarism checking that were circulated as part of the Doctoral Program Review Committee (DPRC), following which the finalized guidelines would be reported in the next AS meeting for approval. The DPRC has also proposed a revised appointment letter for external examiner that would be reviewed by the VPAA and accordingly adopted. The AS noted that the Undergraduate Program Review Committee (UGPRC) would now onwards have standing meetings (once a month) for which the schedule was announced. The Honorary Doctorate Degree Committee established by the AS is currently reviewing the P&P on Nomination Procedures and Criteria for conferment of the AIT's Honorary Degree for greater clarity and to avoid ambiguities found in various nominations received.
I am pleased to note that the Academic Senate was informed by the Vice President Academic Affairs, Prof. Joydeep Dutta regarding the successful completion of the review of the National Climate Change Policy Draft upon the request of the Government of Pakistan to AIT and that has now been submitted to H.E. Mr. Sohail Mahmood, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of this committee Prof. Joydeep Dutta, Prof. Ram. M. Shrestha, Prof. Sivanappan Kumar, Prof. C. Visvanathan, Dr. Mokbul Morshed Ahmad, and Dr. Naveed Anwar.
: On 22 February I met with Dr. Apichai Sunchindah, Policy Advisor, GTZ, Thailand, and Chairman of ASEAN Regional Center of Excellence on Millennium Development Goals (ARCMDG) Board and also member of the Institute-level Advisory Board, who was accompanied by Mr. J.K. Robert England, who is working as an International Development Consultant and is the former UN Resident Coordinator, in successively Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Thailand, where he was charged with providing leadership to the entire UN System in the country as well as to UNDP.
In the framework of further supporting South-South and trilateral cooperation in the region, the GIZ (German International Cooperation) is undertaking an assessment of the prospect for further enhancement of Bangkok as a regional hub for international development-oriented organizations.One possible model being reviewed is Geneva, Switzerland where a whole host of international organizations (inter-governmental as well as non-governmental) have set up their operational bases in that city.
To gain a better understanding of the current situation faced by international centers, institutes, foundations, associations and NGOs with offices already located in Thailand, particularly on operational issues, they also invited AIT to participate in a survey which they recently conducted on the operational issues in connection with the establishment and maintenance ofoperational base in Thailand for International Centers, Institutes, Foundations, Associations& NGOs.
The purpose of our meeting was to discuss the study, during which I also took the opportunity to provide a brief on some of AIT's activities and initiatives, and sought their advice and feedback as well.
Dr. Apichai and Mr. England also had a separate meeting to discuss the study with H.E. Dr. Tej Bunnag, Chairman of the AIT Board of Trustees.
: Dr. Wenresti Glino Gallardo, Associate Professor, Coordinator, and Dr. Amararatne Yakupitiyage Associate Professor, Aquaculture & Aquatic Resources Management Field of Study /SERD successfully initiated the Research project sponsored by SIDA for the proposed new activities under the next phase. The project is titled "AIT support to NUOL 2007 – 2010 Extension: Fisheries Training". The duration of the Project is for five months from 1 May 2011 and has a budget of THB 1,433,315.
Dr. Barbara Igel, Associate Professor and dean School of Management successfully initiated the "Executive Master of Business Administration Program Bangkok August 2010". The duration of the program is for 20 months from the 1st of August 2010 with a budget of THB 8,100,000.
Dr. Voratas Kachitvichyanukul, Professor, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Field of Study successfully initiated a project to conduct the "4th International Conference on Modeling and Simulation ICMS 2011": An international forum for leading academicians, researchers and practitioners to discuss and exchange ideas on latest development and seek collaborations among participants and promote excellence in the field. The project duration is for 18 months from 1 February 2011 with a budget of THB 1,000,000.
The AIT Extension will conduct the following training programs, namely "Project Management for Wastewater treatment facilities "sponsored by Ho Chi Minh City Corporation. The project will be from 7 March 2011 to 23 June 2011, and has a budget of THB 1,995,136.
I congratulate and wish them all success in their respective projects.
: I met briefly with Dr. Yasuto Tachikawa of the Department of Civil and Earth Resources Engineering, Kyoto University, Japan who was introduced to me by Dr Mukand S Babel, Coordinator of the Water & Engineering Management (WEM) field of study. Dr. Tachikawa is visiting AIT from 21 February to 3 March 2011, and during his stay at AIT he will teach a part of the course on "Modeling of Water Resources". This visit was made possible with support from the Kyoto University and the funds provided by the Government of Japan through AIT for the program on Short-term Visiting Faculty (SVF) from Japan. Dr. Tachikawa has been collaborating with Dr. Babel on research and professional activities for several years. He will further discuss on strengthening / developing research and education collaboration between the two institutions.
: AIT's academic quality is very high, and the institute has the advantage of being extremely flexible and able to develop innovative programs quickly, Dr. Suwan Trongjitwikrai, Director, Asian Technical Human Resource Development and Research Collaboration, Western Digital, told a Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia-led delegation of university representatives visiting AIT's School of Engineering (SET) and Technology on 24 February 2011. Further details on the visit is available at the below link:
: The Jawaharlal Lal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) Kakinada, India is a premier engineering institution setup in 1946 in Andhra Pradesh, India. It administers 206 Engineering Colleges having around 260,000 students. Prof. Dr. K KVSG Murali Krishna, Director, Foreign Universities & Alumni Relations and Prof. N. Appa Rao, Director- Soft Skills have visited AIT during 22-24 February. During their visit they met me briefly on 22 February and informed that they are looking forward to the launch of a five-year unified program in Construction Engineering and Infrastructure Management, Remote Sensing and GIS and Environmental Engineering and Management from coming August 2011. In addition, they would also like to launch a 2-stage Masters in the field of Energy Management and few others. This visit is a follow up of the visit by his predecessor Prof. Uday Bhaskar in October 2009.
I was informed that the delegation had a very fruitful meeting with Dr. Weerakorn, Dean-SERD, Prof. Ajit Annachchatre, EEM, Prof. S. Kumar and faculty members of Energy Field of Study, Dr. Nitin V. Afzulpurkar, Dean SET, Mr. Tenzin, ERCO, Mr. Karma Rana, Institute Secretary and several other faculty members. I thank Dr. Nitin K Tripathi, Coordinator, Remote Sensing and GIS, and Associate Dean-Promotion (SET) for initiating this collaboration and linking School of Engineering and Technology and School of Environment and Resources Development with JNTU, India for joint academic programs and wish a grand success to this academic endeavor.
: For the past whole week, the AIT International School (AITIS) celebrated the UNESCO Mother Tongue Day that fell on 21 February 2011. They started the week off with a speech competition under the theme The History of My Language followed by folk tale and song presentations and setting up of country booths.
I was unable to attend the Friday Fun and Food Fair due to my China mission but I was informed it continued the celebration of cultures in our community – in the form of cultural music and dance presentations and delicious Asian cuisines that parents had prepared.One of the main objectives of the Fair was to raise funds for the coming new school building.While the school is waiting for the actual dates for the construction to be decided, with this event, they started off the funds collection program in order to be able to furnish and equip the facilities as soon as they will be ready.
Significant amount of work was done by parents, staff members and students in order to make this day successful and my special thanks Ms. Kaisa Pudas, Principal of the AITIS and all her colleagues, as well to the Parents and the school PTA team including its chair, all the sponsors, and support from Sodexo, in making the event a very successful one.
Quote of the Week: This week's quote is by King Whitney Jr. who said the following "Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better".
Wish you a pleasant week ahead.
Sincerely,
Said Irandoust
President
Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)
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