WEEK #25, 22 - 28 June 2015
In this issue:
Special Event
“Regional Forum on Climate Change (RFCC) - Low Carbon and Climate Resilient Societies: Bridging Science, Practice, and Policy”
A Regional Forum on Climate Change (RFCC) will be organized jointly by the Asian Institute of Technology; French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development; ASEAN Secretariat, and the European Union (EU) from 1-3 July 2015 at the AIT Conference Center. The theme of the Conference is “Low Carbon and Climate Resilient Societies: Bridging Science, Practice and Policy.”
José Ramos-Horta (1996 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate) will be the keynote speaker.
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Announcements
WHERE IS AIT POSITIONED IN THE WORLD RANKINGS?
While universities in Asia are debating Asia University Rankings recently released by QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education Rankings, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), the first regional postgraduate Institute based in Thailand did not appear in either list.
AIT was not eligible and therefore did not participate in the past or in the recently announced World Universities Rankings. AIT has specifically written to enquire on its ineligibility issue, for which we received the following replies:
“You are correct that Asian Institute of Technology will not be eligible to be ranked within the THE World University Ranking-Top 500 this year. We currently do indicate that we cannot rank postgraduate only institutions. We do hope to be able to produce new rankings, which could include graduate only institutions, in the future.”
"Institutions that operate at either undergraduate only, or more commonly postgraduate only level have certain natural advantages in areas such as student faculty ratio or citations per faculty that would lead to anomalous placing in our overall table. Again these are permitted to appear in faculty area or indicator tables, but are excluded from the aggregate list of QS World University Rankings.”
While AIT was unable to participate in the "Institute-wide" rankings, the Institute did participate in "World University Rankings by Faculty" and "World University Rankings by Subject". The Institute fared exceedingly despite the small size of its faculty body.
(1) QS World University Rankings by Faculty
AIT’s first appearance in QS World University Ranking was in the category of QS World University Rankings by Faculty in 2014-15.
http://www.topuniversities.com/faculty-rankings
AIT’s faculty in the broad areas of Engineering and Technology was ranked 210 in the world, above many well-known universities such as University of Tsukuba, Tel Aviv University, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
In addition, AIT’s faculty in the board areas of Social Sciences and Management was ranked 283 in the world.
(2) QS World University Rankings by Subject
On 29 April 2015, the 2015 QS World University Rankings by Subject released its ranking of world universities based on individual subject areas. These QS rankings take into account 36 subjects across five disciplines of Arts and Humanities, Engineering and Technology, Life Science and Medicine, Natural Science and Social Science. The QS subject rankings are based on “academic reputation, employer reputation and research impact.”
In the 2015 edition of the QS World University Rankings by Subject, AIT was ranked among the global best universities in four disciplines, and as the leader in three disciplines in Thailand.
http://www.topuniversities.com/subject-rankings/2015
QS has ranked AIT among the top 151-200 universities of the world in the two areas (1) Civil and Structural Engineering, and (2) Environmental Sciences.
Two other subjects where AIT has achieved global rankings are Electrical and Electronics Engineering (world ranking between 251-300), and Computer Science and Information Systems (world ranking between 301-400).
Thus, AIT is among the global top in four subject areas.
AIT’s Civil & Structural Engineering field of study, which has always been the flagship of AIT, has a subject ranking comparable to Colorado State University, Johns Hopkins University, Ohio State University etc. By the way, Colorado State happened to be the university tasked by the US Government to establish AIT in 1959, using Colorado State's Civil Engineering as prototype of AIT.
Note that the QS subject rankings come immediately after AIT was ranked the top “international university” in the world by U-Multirank 2015 Institutional Ranking released on 30 March 2015. Earlier, in a separate institute rating, QS had awarded top five-star ratings to AIT in three (3) categories – internationalization, teaching and facilities.
With regards,
Professor Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, AIT President
Geoinformatics Center to be an Institute-level Center
Geoinformatics Center (GIC), which was based at AIT’s School of Engineering and Technology (SET), has been enhanced into an Institute-level Center.
This was announced by the AIT President Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai to the AIT community on 16 June 2015.
The Geoinformatics Center (GIC) was established in 1997 by Prof. Shunji Murai, as a self-funded outreach center of AIT. The Center was set up in a new building in 1999, and Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn inaugurated the new building.
Initially, the goal of the center was to enhance technical capabilities and demonstrate practical applications of space-based technologies through applied research, capacity-building, training and project services primarily in the Asia-Pacific region. During the initial phase, the Center focused on core spatial information systems, but over the years, the Center has moved towards real-world applications in disaster management, environment management, natural resources management, poverty and development, and urban planning addressing the growing demands in the region.
While Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been the main sponsor of the Center since its inception, organizations like ADPC, ADRC, ITC, Kokusai Kogyo, Nippon Koei, RESTEC, University of Tokyo, UNESCAP have also extended their support. Recently, the Center has also been able to attract funding from multilateral banks and the United Nations.
As an Institute-level Center, AIT GIC will continue to serve the region and beyond in capacity building, training and sponsored project services in Geoinformatics. Elevating GIC to Institute-level creates a structured and instrumental entity within AIT that could catalyze the use of Geoinformatics across the institute effectively and productively. It is aimed to become a Center of Excellence in Geoinformatics in the region and the Center targets to become a hub for the rapid response under the Sentinel Asia disaster support initiative of JAXA as well as becoming a UN affiliated center in the near future, Prof. Worsak announced.
The request to enhance GIC from School- to- Institute-level was made by the GIC Director, Dr. Lal Samarakoon, with the endorsements of the Vice President for Resource Development and Dean of the School of Engineering & Technology. Dr. Lal has been instrumental in establishing GIC and its progressive success during the past 15 years, receiving due recognition from various clients including the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
More details about GIC are available at this link: http://www.geoinfo.ait.ac.th/
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Campus Updates
Confirmed AIT Management Notes, 11 June 2015
Please be informed that the confirmed notes of the 11 June 2015 meeting of the AIT Management are now Intranet-published at: http://www.ait.ac.th/management/aitmt-notes
A full scholarship available for Lao national
Deadline to Apply: 30 June 2015
Theun-Hinboun Power Company in Lao PDR is offering a full scholarship for a qualified Lao national to study for an MBA degree in Energy Business Management (MBA-EB) at AIT -- starting this August 2015 Semester!
Contact the AIT Admissions and Scholarship Unit at:
Email: admissions@ait.asia
Visit: http://energy.ait.asia/energy-programs
New book on “Sustainable Energy Access Planning: A Framework"
A book titled “Sustainable Energy Access Planning: A Framework” coauthored by Prof. Ram Shrestha, Professor Emeritus, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), was released at the Asia Clean Energy Forum 2015 at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila, Philippines, on 17 June 2015.
See more details: http://www.ait.ac.th/news-and-events/2015/news/new-book-on-201csustainable-energy-access-planning-a-framework/view#.VYe-mE_-IdU
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Visitors
• H. E. Dr. Peter Jakab, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary / 23 June 2015 / to have a meeting with AIT administration.
• Director of Military Research and Development Centre (MRDC) and his team / 26 June 2015 / to learn about AIT research facilities and expertise.
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Faculty and Staff Travel
Ms. Rowena Alcoba / Manila and Palawan, Philippines / 8 – 29 June 2015
Dr. Loc Thai Nguyen / Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam / 10 – 28 June 2015
Mr. Agus S. Prajogo / Jakarta, Indonesia / 14 – 17 June 2015*
Dr. B.H.W. Hadikusumo / Myanmar / 14 – 17 June 2015*
Dr. Pradeep Kumar Dash / Kuala Lumpur and Malacca, Malaysia; Singapore / 14 – 23 June 2015
Mr. Guilberto Borongan / Manila, Philippines and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia / 14 – 27 June 2015
Dr. Prabhat Kumar / Surin Province, Thailand / 16 – 18 June 2015*
Ms. Amornpan Koysungeon / Surin Province / 16 – 18 June 2015*
Mr. Arturo Roa / Pune, India / 16 – 18 June 2015*
Prof. Nguyen Thi Kim Oanh / Boston, North Carolina, Massachusetts and New York, USA / 16 June – 13 August 2015
Dr. P. Abdul Salam / Vienna, Austria and Helsinki, Finland / 16 – 24 June 2015
Dr. Shobhakar Dhakal / Oslo, Norway / 21 – 26 June 2015
Mr. Bayasgalan Sanduijav / Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia / 21 June – 5 July 2015
Dr. Oleg Shinpin / Nakhon Phanom Province, Thailand / 23 – 29 June 2015
Prof. Ajit P. Annachatre / France and The Netherlands / 27 June – 18 July 2015
Dr. Weerakorn Ongsakul / The Netherlands and Copenhagen, Denmark / 27 June – 5 July 2015
*(Staff or faculty member travelled and returned to AIT prior to documentation received for publication)
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Classifieds (Jobs)
Laboratory Supervisor (School of Environment, Resources & Development)
Ref. No: 29/15
Deadline: 24 June 2015
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/323
Head of Office of Facilities & Assets Management (Office of Facilities & Assets Management)
Ref. No: 31/15
Deadline: 30 June 2015
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/240
Senior Project Engineer (AIT Consulting)
Ref. No: 25/15
Deadline: 30 June 2015
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/318
Director, Language Center (Language Center)
Ref. No: 33/15
Deadline: 3 July 2015
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/326
Internal Auditor (Internal Audit Office)
Ref. No: 15/15
Deadline: 9 July 2015
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/305
Assistant Internal Auditor (Internal Audit Office)
Ref. No: 11/15
Deadline: 9 July 2015
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/297
Draftsman (AIT Consulting)
Ref. No: 35/15
Deadline: July 17, 2015
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/327
Laboratory Supervisor (ISE) (School of Engineering & Technology)
Ref. No: 4/14
Deadline: 31 July 2015
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/202
Research Specialist I (School of Engineering & Technology)
Ref. No: 32/15
Deadline: 31 July 2015
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/325
Assistant or Associate Professor in Natural Resources Management (School of Environment, Resources & Development)
Ref. No: Fac 4/15
Deadline: 31 July 2015
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/304
Faculty Position in the Environmental Engineering and Management (School of Environment, Resources & Development)
Ref. No: Fac 11/14
Deadline: 31 July 2015
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/280
Assistant or Associate Professor Positions (School of Engineering & Technology)
Ref. No: Fac 7/15
Deadline: 31 July 2015
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/322
Senior Project Engineer (AIT Consulting)
Ref no: 25/15
Deadline: July 31, 2015
http://www.hro.ait.ac.th/job/show/318
Assistant or Associate Professors Positions (School of Management)
Ref. No: Fac 5/15
Deadline: 31 August 2015