AIT Campus Bulletin

WEEK #13, 30 March – 5 April 2015

This Issue:

Announcement

Management Team News

Campus Notes

Events

Visitors

Faculty and Staff Travel

Classifieds (Jobs)

Announcement

AIT Distinguished Researcher Awards’ winners for 2014 announced

The Asian Instituted of Technology (AIT) announced on 27 March 2015 the selection of two faculty member recipients of its inaugural “AIT Distinguished Researcher Awards” for 2014.

Professor N. T. Kim Oanh was awarded in the category of Senior Research Leader, while Associate Professor Sangam Shrestha won the award in the Junior Research Leader category.

A Vietnam national, Prof. Kim Oanh lectures in the Environmental Engineering and Management field of study at the AIT School of Environment, Resources and Development. Assoc. Prof. Shrestha, who hails from Nepal, teaches in the Water Engineering and Management field of study at the AIT School of Engineering and Technology.

Both AIT Distinguished Researcher awardees receive a full doctoral scholarship and will be presented with a certificate of recognition at the May 2015 AIT Graduation Ceremony.

Launched last year, the AIT Distinguished Awards series is new yearly award program that recognizes excellence amongst the institute’s faculty and researchers in seven categories.

This particular award is intended to provide motivation to faculty and staff to get more involved in conducting sponsored research projects that benefit the Asian region and provide solid research infrastructure for AIT graduate students. The new award also honors AIT faculty and staff for their indirect contributions to the institute which emerge from their projects.

According to AIT Vice President for Research Professor Kanchana Kanchanasut, the award evaluation committee considered four candidates among the senior category and five candidates from the junior category. The evaluations were conducted using external evaluation committee members.

Awardee Citations:

Senior Research Leader Category

Professor N. T. Kim Oanh

AIT School of Environment, Resources and Development

Professor Kim Oanh is a well-established professor who has clearly demonstrated scientific leadership in the field of air pollution, environmental monitoring and modelling. Her scholarly contributions are truly outstanding. In 2014, she published 1 book, 11 book chapters and 6 peer-reviewed journal articles. She is currently running seven research projects, four of which started in 2014. Owing to her very high-level networking and visibility activities, and by conducting training workshops, she is highly recognized amongst the international scientific community. She has demonstrated high quality research leadership adapting to changes, seeking integrated solutions and providing high quality scientific answers to local problems. Prof. Kim Oanh’s proposed future research on regional air pollutant assessment and emissions reduction will likely have high impact for the Asian region.

Junior Research Leader Category

Associate Professor Sangam Shrestha

AIT School of Engineering and Technology

Assoc. Prof. Shrestha has obtained significant research and other technical service grants from a number of international agencies. He has particular strength in working cooperatively with international partners. His expertise is focused on water resources management and climate change impacts. Apart from conducting many policy-oriented researches and studies, he has also been instrumental in delivering a number of capacity building programs in this area. Assoc. Prof. Shrestha’s proposed future research on “Assessment of climate change impacts on water, food and energy security” is a very important topic. Moreover, he is a prolific publisher who has authored numerous international refereed journal papers and book chapters since joining AIT in 2009.

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Management Team News

Confirmed notes of the 12 March AIT Management Meeting

The confirmed notes of the 12 March 2015 meeting of the AIT Management is now Intranet-published at http://www.ait.ac.th/management/aitmt-notes

Based on the recommendation of the AIT Management, the President approved the following new policy & procedure statements (P&P), which are Intranet-published under POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.

NEW P&Ps

AA-2-3-2 Unified Bachelor’s and Master’s Programs

* To set guidelines for unified bachelor’s and master’s programs.

FS-4-2-1 Full Management of Auxiliary Services and Concessionaires on Campus

* To replace the Institute P&P on Full Management of Coffee Lounges on Campus (FS-9-2-2) to include all non-academic revenue-generating assets on campus.

In Brief

Vice President for Academic Affairs Prof. S. Kumar has accepted an invitation to be an Evaluator for the SEAMEO-Australia Education Links Award 2014/2015
The AIT Faculty Retreat is confirmed for 15-17 May 2015. The venue will be off campus and will be announced soon.

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Campus Notes

CHE to sign MoU with AIT on Sharing of the Internet System

On 31 March 2015, there will be the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Thailand’s Commission on Higher Education (CHE) and AIT on the sharing of the internet system to promote quality research, network operation technology and distance learning utilizing information technology.The MoU will be signed by Secretary-General of CHE and AIT President Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai.

RTG Fellowship Certificates

After the Signing Ceremony, the Secretary-General of CHE will present RTG Fellowship certificates to AIT students at the presentation ceremony.

AIT PhD student receives CLIFF Fellowship Award 2015

Ms. Geeta Bhatrai Bastakoti, a Ph.D. student in Gender and Development Studies, School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD), was among 10 candidates selected from 200 applicants to win the CLIFF Fellowship Award 2015.

As part of the fellowship program, Ms. Geeta attended an inception workshop from 14–15 March 2015 in Montpellier, France, where recipients of the awards presented their research to the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) team organized by CCAFS-CGIAR Program. She presented her ongoing research titled 'Gender Implications of Food Security and Climatic Variability in Nepal' chaired by Dr. Philippe Donneys. The committee members are Dr. Anil Kumar Anal, Dr. Clemens Grunbuhel and Dr. Donna Doane.

The CLIFF fellowship program also provides Ms. Geeta an opportunity to attend Climate Smart Agriculture Conference held from March 16-18, Montepellier, France, organized by Cirad, CG and Agropolis. She will have an opportunity to work with IRRI, Philippines as a host organization where she will spend one month in April and two more months from August 2015 to interact with researchers and contribute to the gender and social aspects of Climate change and Alternate Wetting Drying Technology Adoption Technology in Northern Part of Philippines.

Climate Food and Farming Research Network (CLIFF) is an international research network that links researchers and doctoral students working on climate change mitigation in small-scale farming and food systems, particularly through the Standard Assessment of Mitigation Potential and Livelihoods in Smallholder Systems (SAMPLES) project. The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) launched CLIFF in 2011 in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Ecology, University of Copenhagen and the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University.

For more information, please view: http://ccafs.cgiar.org/climate-food-and-farming-network#.VRKNx_mUeSp and http://csa2015.cirad.fr/

SCB – AIT Branch to discontinue its service from 13 June 2015

With decreasing numbers of customers and subscription to other products/services of the SCB (bank) AIT branch, the Head Office made a decision to discontinue the service at the AIT branch and combine it with the Thammasat Hospital branch, effective 13 June 2015. The land lease agreement between AIT and SCB located in AIT will end on 31 August 2015.

Survey of AIT Campus Services

The Office of Facilities and Asset Management (OFAM) AIT manages the operation and maintenance of the AIT campus with the help of the contracted services for technical maintenance, Janitorial services, Landscape Services, Security services, and AITCC management. It has been more than 8 months since OFAM started providing the facilities services and the office is continuously trying to improve to provide the community with better facilities. OFAM would like to hear from the community how the services provided by the contractors could be further improved through a very simple survey which could be accessed through the link below

http://goo.gl/kl9Syl

For those who assist OFAM with this survey, as a gesture of thanks, there will be a raffle draw where prizes at stake as follows: 1st Prize = 2 (two) 32 GB Thumb Drive; 2nd Prize = 4 (Four) 16 GB Thumb Drive; 3rd Prize = 2 (Two) Buffet Coupon for 2 persons at the AIT Dining Room at the AITCC; 4th Prize = 5 (Five) Cafeteria Coupon of 100 THB per persons; 5th Prize = 10 (Ten) Beverage Coupon for 2 persons valued at 55.00 Baht each at Hom Krun Coffee; 6th Prize = 10 (Ten) Consolation prizes. The survey lasts form 23 March until 15 April 2015.

Application deadline for PANACEA Cohort-2 extends to April 1st

Please be informed that the new call for application PANACEA Cohort-2 has just been opened. Applications for Master’s and Doctorate levels are now invited to apply online: http://www.panacea-mundus.eu/

Deadline for applications is: 1 April 2015

ATTENTION FACULTY & STUDENTS

May 2015 Graduation Schedules and other Deadlines

Friday, 24 April 2015: Last day for English proficiency re-testing at Language Center.
Monday, 4 May 2015: Deadline for submission of doctoral progress reports.
Thursday, 7 May 2015: All DOCTORAL graduating files must be submitted to Registry.
Monday, 11 May 2015: DPRC progress meeting and review of candidates for graduation. No other meeting will be scheduled after this one.
Monday, 11 May 2015: All MASTER graduating files must be submitted to Registry.
Wednesday, 13 May 2015: Deadline for inputting final grades in SIS.
Monday, 18 May 2015: Academic Senate (Review of Students) meeting.
Wednesday, 20 May 2015: Graduation Rehearsal

Graduating students, Advisors of doctoral graduands, Marshals, and Deans to assemble in the AIT Conference Center Auditorium for the actual Graduation Rehearsal.

1:30 pm: SERD and SOM

3:00 pm: SET and UG

Thursday, 21 May 2015: Photo Session at 10:00 am in the AIT Conference Center Auditorium in the following order: SET, SERD and SOM

(Note: Picture taking will take around 2-3 minutes per field of study.)

Friday, 22 May 2015: 123rd AIT Graduation Ceremonies

-9:30 am: SERD and SOM (Faculty to assemble at the TV Room of AITCC at 9:00 am)

-2:00 pm: SET and UG (Faculty to assemble at the TV Room of AITCC at 1:30 pm)

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Events

AIT Career Fair and Research Exhibition

The AIT Career Fair will be organized on 1 April 2015 from 0900-1700 hours at the AIT Conference Center. The day-long event will provide an opportunity to students to interact with various employers. An AIT Student Union “Research Exhibition” will also be held the same day where students will showcase their prototypes and present their posters.

AIT Selfie and AIT Student Life Photography Contest

The “AIT Selfie” and “AIT Student Life” Photography Competitions are being organized jointly by the AIT Student Union (AITSU) and the Media and Communications Unit (MCU).

Both the “AIT Selfie” and “AIT Student Life Photography Competition” carry first prizes of 5000 Baht each, and second prizes of 2000 Baht each, in addition to a popular vote prize of 1000 Baht each. For those who register at the AITSU Forum, a lucky draw will be held on the occasion of the AIT Food Fair on 10 April 2015. A total of 20 AIT Selfie T-shirts, sponsored by the Chinese Student Association will be awarded.

See more details from: http://www.ait.ac.th/news-and-events/2015/events/ait-selfie-and-ait-student-life-photography-contest/#.VRN7qk_-IdU

Deadline of Submission - Submission is valid until midnight of 5 April 2015.

Contact: Kaung Myat Tun <+66 9 24895330>; Raihan Sharif Jewell <+66 9 46803438>. Email: sumedia.ait@gmail.com

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Visitors

Delegation from Public Works, Ministry of Construction, Myanmar, led by Mr. Aung Myo Thaik, CEO and Managing Director, United Network / 6 Apr. 2015 / to sign MoA with AIT; to make a donation to the Library Modernization Campaign (THB 15,000); and to make a donation for financial support to Myanmar Master’s student Mr. Myint Naing (THB 200,000).

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Faculty and Staff Travel

Dr. Jai Govind Singh / India / 21 Mar. – 1 Apr. 2015

Miss Soe Soe Htway & Miss Aye Sandar Phyo / Hanoi, Vietnam / 23 – 27 Mar. 2015*

Mr. Arturo G. Roa / Phanomsarakham and Chachoengsao provinces, Thailand / 24 Mar. 2015*

Prof. Kanchana Kanchanasut / Copenhagen, Denmark; Trieste, Italy; Paris, France / 24 Mar. – 16 Apr. 2015

Ms. Wannapa Pliansri & Ms. Wilailak Yooprem / Chiang Mai Province, Thailand / 25 Mar. 2015*

Dr. Matthew Dailey / Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand / 26 Mar. 2015*

Dr. Ram C. Bhujel / Dhaka, Bangladesh / 27 Mar. – 1 Apr. 2015

Dr. Avishek Datta / Dhaka, Bangladesh / 27 Mar. – 1 Apr. 2015

Dr. B.H.W. Hadikusumo / Vietnam / 28 – 29 Mar. 2015*

Mr. Songpon Saengpun / Cholburi Province, Thailand / 28 – 29 Mar. 2015*

Mr. Guilberto Borongan / Jakarta, Indonesia / 29 Mar. – 3 Apr. 2015

Ms. Woralac Rodsumang / Jakarta, Indonesia / 1 – 3 Apr. 2015

Ms. Nalinee Kongkerd / Phitsanulok and Chiang Mai provinces, Thailand / 1 – 4 Apr. 2015

Dr. Kunnawee Kanitpong, Dr. Surachet Pravinvongvuth, and Prof. Takashi Nakatsuji / Chiang Mai / 1 – 5 Apr. 2015

Dr. Sarawut Ninsawat / Phitsanulok, Thailand / 2 – 3 Apr. 2015

Dr. Thammarat Koottatep / Bangalore, India / 4 – 8 Apr. 2015

Mr. Bajinder Pal Singh / Bangalore, India / 4 – 8 Apr. 2015

Mrs. Nitasha Arora, Dr. Atitaya Panuvatvanich, Ms. Supusanee Dulyakasem, Dr. Yuttachai Sarathai, and Ms. Isha Basyal / Bangalore, India / 4 – 8 Apr. 2015

*(Staff or faculty member travelled and returned to AIT prior to documentation received for publication)

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