US describes AIT as a “world class” institute he Asian Institute of Tech- nology(AIT)hasbeendescribedasa“world class institute” byH.E.WilliamJ.Burns,UnderSecretaryforPolitical Affairs, US Department ofState.H.E.BurnsmadetheseremarkswhenhewasinBangkoktodeliveratalk,“ARenewedU.S.-ThaiAllianceforthe21stCentury”on16July2010.

Theseasoneddiplomatdelvedontheidea of a “creative partnership” be-tween US and Thailand. While elab-

orating on the concept, H.E. Burns stated that “WesternDigital’s work with the world-class Asian Institute ofTechnologyinThailandtodevelopdegreeprogramsinIn-formationTechnologyis justoneexampleof the typeofcooperationwewant toexpandunder thisCreativePart-nership.”AITandWesternDigitalhadjointlylaunchedaMasterofScience(M.Sc.)programin(HardDiscDrive)HDDEngineeringTechnology,aprogramthatdrewsup-port by the Hard Disk Drive Institute (HDDI) cluster atNational Electronics and Computer Technology Center(NECTEC),Thailand.

The entire text of the speech can be read at this link .

Asian Institute of Technology August 2010

H.E. William J. Burns

Distinguished AIT alumus Dr. Prasarn Trairat-vorakulhasbeenappointedasthenewGovernorof theBankofThailand.The appointmentwasclearedatthecabinetmeetingoftheRoyalThaiGovernment,andDr.PrasarnisslatedtoassumehisnewpositiononOctober1afterreceivingaroyalcommandfromHisMajesty theKingen-dorsinghisposition.

AIT alumnus to be new Governor of Bank of Thailand

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Distinguished alumnus oftheAsian Institute ofTech-nology (AIT), Dr. PrasarnTrairatvorakul has been ap-pointedasthenewGovernoroftheBankofThailand.Theappointment was cleared atthe cabinet meeting of theRoyal Thai Government,and Dr. Prasarn is slated toassumehisnewpositiononOctober 1 after receivinga royal command from HisMajestytheKingendorsinghisposition.

Dr.PrasarngraduatedwithaMaster’sinEngineeringin 1976 fromAIT’s School ofAdvancedTechnolo-giesintheprogramIndustrialEngineeringandMan-agement. Dr. Prasarn has been arecipientof theAIT

Recent news / happenings at ait

distinguishedalumniaward.He has also served on theBoard of AIT’s School ofEngineering and Techno-logy(SET).

AtpresentDr.Prasarnisthepresident of Kasikornbank.Prior to Kasikornbank, heserved at the Securitiesand Exchange Commis-sion (SEC) as both deputysecretarygeneralaswellas

secretarygeneral.Healsoservedatwo-yearstintasaresearchfellowattheInternationalFoodPolicyRe-searchInstitute(IFPRI)inWashingtonDC.Earlierin2010,Dr.Prasarnwaselectedchairmanof theThaiBankers’Associationearlierthisyear.

AIT alumnus to be new Governor of Bank of Thailand

TheAsianInstituteofTechnologyhascontributedto-wardstheadvancementofhigherlearninganddevel-opment in Asia for more than fifty years. Africa is the nextdevelopmentchallengeand the lessons learnedbyAIT inapplyingscienceand technologyforsus-tainablesolutionsisalsoimportantfordevelopmentinAfrica.Thesewere theremarksofAIT’sDr.Ro-landAmoussou-Guenou, Co-Founder and PresidentofthenewAsia-AfricaFoundation(ASAFO),whilespeakingduringthelaunchofanewwebsitehttp://www.asiafricafoundation.org.

“AIT is already receiving students fromAfrica, butthetimehascometobringtheexchangetothenextlevel with the cooperation and support of govern-

ments,internationalorganizations,andthepublicandprivatesectors,”hesaid.

Dr. Amoussou-Guenou said the Foundation’s mis-sionwastoserveasabridgefornewcooperationanddevelopmentopportunitiesbetweenAfricaandAsia.TheASAFOfollowsanexploratoryvisitbyanAITdelegation to variousAfrican nations in 2009. Thetripprovidedanopportunitytounderstandthedegreetowhichgovernments,organizationsanduniversitiesareinterestedinengagingAsia.“AITwillbethehuboftheAsia-AfricaFoundationforSouth-Southassis-tance and cooperation withAfrica,” Dr.Amoussou-Guenou confirmed.

AIT will be the hub of the new Asia-Africa Foundation

�Recent news / happenings at ait

AIT mourns passing of Mr. Chukiat Photayanuvat, President of AITAA−Thai ChapterTheAsianInstituteofTechnologywasdeeplysaddenedbythesuddenpass-ingawayofdistinguishedalumnusMr.ChukiatPhotayanuvat(GTE1979),President of the AIT Alumni Association (AITAA) −Thai Chapter, and Dep-utyGovernoroftheMassRapidTransitAuthorityofThailand(MRTA),onSunday,25July2010.Mr.Chukiat,wholosthisbattlewithcancer,was55.“WiththepassingawayofMr.Chukiat,wehavelostacloseanddearfriendoftheAsianInstituteofTechnology,”AITPresidentSaidIrandoustsaidinanemailtofaculty,staff,studentsandalumni.

Mr. Chukiat was an extremely active and respected member of theAITAlumniAssociation,andhiscontributionstotheInstitute,especiallyinhiscapacityas thePresidentof theAITAA-ThailandChapter,willalwaysbevaluedandremembered,PresidentIrandoustsaid.

President Irandoust expressed his heartfelt condolences on behalf of the

SCINDA receiving station established at AIT

entire AIT community to theimmediate family members,relatives and friends of Mr.Chukiat. He said the thoughtsandprayersofallofAITwerewith them at this very difficult timeofbereavement.

AIT alumna appointed Permanent Secretary in Ministry of Social Development and Human Security

Ms. Panita Kambhu Na Ayutthaya,adistinguishedalumnaoftheAsianInstitute of Technology (AIT,) hasbeenappointedPermanentSecretaryin the Ministry of Social Develop-ment and Human Security, RoyalThaiGovernment.Sheisthesecondwomantobeappointedatthisposi-tionsinceitsestablishmentin2002.

Ms. Panita graduated from AIT in1986withaM.Sc.inHumanSettle-ments and Development from theSchool of Environment, ResourcesandDevelopment(SERD).Shestud-ied Archaeology in her Bachelor’sdegree from Silpakorn University,graduatingin1977.Shealsoattend-edtheNationalDefenceCollegeofThailandin2004.

TheInstitute of Scientific Research (ISR), Boston College, USA has established a receiving station atAIT under the framework of Net-workDecisionAid (SCINDA) researchnetwork.The receiving sta-tioncomprisesofahighprecisionGPSBasestationandVeryHighFrequency(VHF)receivers.SCINDAinvolvesover40institutionsandisanetworkofgroundsensorsdevelopedtogeneraterealtimecom-municationoutagemapsandwarningsforsatellitecommunicationandGPSusers. Itensuresexchangeof ionosphericdatarecordedbyeachinstitutionasapartofcollaborativeresearchactivities.

AIThassignedaMemorandumofAgreement(MOA)withtheInstituteof Scientific Research (ISR), Boston College, USA to forge coopera-tiveresearchundertheframeworkofScintillationNetworkDecisionAid(SCINDA)researchnetwork.ISRandAITwillconductregionalresearchongeodynamics,real-timecorrectionsofGPSsignalsfromsolar extremes and solar flares in upper atmosphere among others.

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inister ofAgriculture and Fisheries of Timor Leste, H.E. Mariano Assanami Sabino hascalled for strong involve-mentofAIT inmeeting thecountry’sStrategicProgram2020foragriculturalgrowthand sustainable food secu-rity.TheMinisterstatedthisfollowingconsultativemeet-ings held after the two daynational workshop on “Re-viewofricecultivationsys-temsinTimorLeste”heldatDili.A meeting of donor agen-cies with the Ministry ofAgriculture and Fisheries (MAF) of Timor Leste isplanned in coming weeks and the Minister stressedthe need for the presence ofAIT at this meeting toassist in formulating a five-year plan of activities for rice intensification.

The two-day national workshop was hosted bythe MAF (Timor Leste) in co-sponsorship with

German Technical Coop-eration (GTZ), EuropeanUnion(EU),andAIT.Theco-sponsorship for AITwas brought through byDr. Abha Mishra, SeniorResearch Specialist-cum-Affiliated Faculty, ASE/SERD with support fromGTZ. Dr. Mishra was oneof the four key speakersinvited to analyze, discussand provide recommenda-tions for Sustainable Rice

Intensification (SRI). The other key speakers invited for this workshop were from the International RiceResearch Institute (IRRI); Bogor Agricultural Uni-versity(IPB),IndonesiaandtheTamilNaduAgricul-turalUniversity,India.

Timor Leste needs strong involvement of AIT: Minister

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n a 30-minute interview, Dr. Tej touched on a wide variety of subjects related to the Asian Institute ofTechnology, in particularAIT’s landmark New Charter,whichheexplainedwouldbesignedbytheMinistryofForeignAffairsonbehalfoftheRoyalThaiGovernmenttobecomeafoundingmemberofthe“NewAIT”.TheChairmanoutlinedtoviewerskeyelementsofAIT’shalf-centuryhistory,andtoldofitslastingimpactontheregion.Inanentertainingexchange,Dr.TejexplaineddetailsofwhatmakesAITaspecialandenduringinternationalinstituteofhigherleaningforThailandandtheregion.

ASEAN Talks is broadcast nightly on theASEAN TVnetworkviasatelliteacrosstheASEANregion,andcanbeviewedinThailandonMCOTChannel2.

AIT Chairman discusses New AIT Charter, and much more on ASEAN TVAIT’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees, H.E. Dr. Tej Bunnag, was the special guest of the television program ASEAN Talks telecast regionally on 1 July 2010.

H.E. Dr. Tej Bunnag

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August 2010

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Dr.Supasith Chonglerttham Dr.Supasith Chonglerttham hasjoined the School of Manage-ment (SOM) as a Senior In-structor starting 1 July 2010.Dr. Chonglerttham obtained hisPh.D.inFinance,2009,fromthe

UniversityofHawaiiatManoa,Hawaii,USAandanMBAinFinance,2005,fromTulaneUniversity,USA.Duringhisappointment,Dr.ChonglertthamwillteachFinanceandManagerialAccounting.

peOpLe

Professional Develop-ment Needs Assess-ment workshop at AIT

Afour-dayProfessionalDevelop-mentNeedsAssessment(PDNA)workshop for the Asian ProjectManagementSupportProgramme(AFMAS)wasorganizedatAIT,withtheAITPresidentProf.SaidIrandoust stressing that such ini-tiatives would help project man-agement skills in the region.AFMASisaninitiativeoftheIn-ternational Fund forAgriculturalDevelopment (IFAD), and AITExtensionwastaskedtoholdthefour-dayPDNAworkshop.

“This is a platform which fos-ters interaction and networkingcombined with a professionaldevelopment approach,” theAITPresident said. He thanked AITalumna Ms. Ayurzana Puntsag-davaaof IFAD for enablingAITandIFADtoworktogether.“Iamsure the PDNA workshop willhelpinenhancingcapacityintheAsianregion,” theAITPresidentremarked.

NITI to contribute to AIT Endowment Fund

Alumnusof theAsian InstituteofTechnology (AIT) and ExecutiveChairmanofNepal’sNational In-formation Technology Institute(NITI), Mr. Pramod S. S. Prad-han,hasannouncedthathalfofhisearnings from undergraduate stu-dentrecruitmentwouldbedonatedto theAIT Endowment Fund. Hestated thisduring thesigningcer-emony of the Memorandum ofAgreement (MOA)betweenNITIandAITon16July2010.

Mr.Pradhan,who is also the for-merpresidentof theNepalChap-teroftheAITAlumniAssociation,announced that while 50 per centof NITI’s earnings from the un-dergraduate recruitment would bespentonpublicityandAITpromo-tions, the remaining 50 per centwould be contributed to the AITEndowmentFund.

NITIsignedtwoMOAwithAITtoactasaStudentRecruitmentAgent(SRA)forbothundergraduateandpostgraduatestudents.NITIwouldhelpAITrecruitbothstudentsandtrainingparticipantsfromNepal.

“30 alumni serve at Nong Lam University”

Thirty alumni from AIT are al-ready serving at the Nong LamUniversity(NLU)inVietnamandNLUlooksforwardtowardsmoreassociation with AIT. This wasstatedbyDr.TringTruongGiang,Rector,NLUduringavisittoAIT.NLUandAITalsosignedaMOUtoexpandmutualcollaborationinacademics,research,trainingandconsultancyservices.

Mr. Nayana D.P. Dehigama Mr. Nayana D.P. Dehigama,a doctoral student of AIT’sSchool of Management(SOM), has won the thirdAsia-Pacific Young Entrepre-neurAward.Theawardswere

announced at the 24th Conference of the Confed-eration of Asia Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry(CACCI),whichconcludedon7July2010atColombo,SriLanka.

What’s Happening at AIT?

• August 11, 2010 OrientationDayforfreshAIT students• August 23, 2010 Training Course on CSR Essentials at the CSR Asia CenteratAIT

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AITplayedhoston12July2010when prospective students andtheirparentsvisitedAITforanen-tiredaytofamiliarizethemselvesabout AIT. Apart from introduc-torytalksaboutstudiesandlifeatAIT, thevisitorswentaround thecampus visiting various schoolsand facilities. They also savoredan international lunch. An inter-national cultural show followed,wherestudentsfromvariouscoun-tries showcased their respectiveculturesforthevisitors.Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai,AIT’sVicePresidentforResourceand Development, describedAITas an ideal place for students toacquire an international outlook

whilemaintaininganAsianorientation.“AITstudentsgraduatewithaninternationalperspective;high levelof ITcompetence, innovation, andareabletoachieveintegrationofholisticaspectswhileremainingpeggedtoindustrialrelevance,”headded.ThisopinionwasalsoechoedbyAITalumnus, Mr. Somjate Saifon, Director and Chemicals Manager, Esso(Thailand)PCL,whospeciallyparticipatedintheeventtoenlightenpro-spectivestudentsregardingtheadvantagesofac-quiringeducationatAIT.PresidentoftheAITStudentUnion, Mr.WorawajOnnom,alsowelcomedthestudents.

Editor:BajinderPalSingh

MediaSpecialist,AITbajinder@ait.asia

Forfeedback,contactMediaandCommunications

UnitatAITmcu@ait.asia

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In a Climate Quest, the Roof as White Knight Since he took over as energy secretary last year, Steven Chu, a Nobel lau-reate in physics, has urged Americans to help cool the planet by painting their roofs a lighter color that reflects sunlight.

“When you’re thinking of putting on a new roof, make it white,” Dr. Chu told JonStewart’s“DailyShow”audiencein2009.“Itcostsnomoretomakeitwhitethantomakeitblack.”

Nowheisfollowinghisownadvice:onMonday,Dr.ChudirectedallEnergyDepart-ment offices to install white roofs during new construction, when replacing old roofs andwhereveraninstallationiscost-effectiveoverthelifetimeoftheroof.Thesecretaryurgedotherfederalagenciestofollowsuit.

“Cool roofs are oneof the quickest and lowest-cost ways we can reduce our globalcarbon emissions andbegin thehardworkof slowing climate change,”he said in astatement.

Readtheentirenewsitemat.atthislink

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/in-a-climate-quest-the-roof-as-white-knight/

Source: The New York Times

Prospective students welcomed on Visit AIT Day

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